A Second Chance
by Sup.Sarah
Summary: Takes off from the cliff dive in new moon, what if Bella wasn't just imagining Edward's voice? What if he was really there, but to late to stop her from jumping? Will she die? Will she want him? I suck at summaries but just give it a go.
1. Chapter 1 The Cliff Dive

_**Alright so I'm starting a new story. It starts from the cliff jump and is pretty much an alternate from page 358 of New Moon. Obviously I'm Not S.M and I don't own Twilight or the series, though I do wish I owned one of the Cullen men – I'm not picky which one………So read and hopefully enjoy---**_

Chapter one - The Cliff Dive.

"_Bella." _

_I smiled and exhaled._

_Yes? I didn't answer out loud, for fear that the sound of my voice would shatter the beautiful illusion. He sounded so real, so close. It was only when he was disapproving like this that I could hear the true memory of his voice – the velvet texture and the musical intonation that made up the most perfect of all voices._

"_Don't do this," he pleaded._

_You wanted me to be human, I reminded him. Well, watch me._

"_Please. For me."_

'_But this is for you.'_

"Please, you can not do this to me!! Just step away Bella!!" And oh I almost did, just because he sounded so close. I could almost feel him.

'_But it's the only way you'll stay with me' _I head his roar, his velvety voice screaming out "Bella no!" but it was to late. I flung myself of the cliff with an ear-shattering scream that let out all my pain and hurt and want and need. I could feel the wind trying to move my body back up to the cliff top but gravity was winning. I wasn't sure what would happen when I met the water and although death wasn't my original intention, though right now, through my now open and wind blow eyes, death seemed like an easy, simple and somewhat happy alternative as opposed to continuing to live this pointless, meaningless life. Because that is all that my life is without my meaning, my love, my Edward. At least he was my Edward. I don't know whose he is now; I just hope she never lets him go. Or that if he were to leave her, she would just do this straight away, because no one deserves the pain and suffering that is inflicted upon you when Edward Cullen break's your heart, even if she couldn't love him as much as I do. And it doesn't matter how much he hurt me or all the lies he told and the promises he broke. And it doesn't matter that he probably never even loved me and that I was just a game or a toy. None of that (painful as it is) makes any difference to the fact that I still love him. And I know that even when my body washed away and my soul leaves this world I will still love him, because nothing can stop something _that_ strong, something as strong as my love and adoration and need for him. I just wish he knew that I was doing this for him as much as I was doing it for me, and I hope he knows that it isn't his fault, though I doubt he really cares. Alice might though, but I can't take this back now.

My body met the ice cold water and the temperature shocked me. It closed on me, filling my every pore and cell and I wouldn't have it any other way. It was freezing, just like his skin. Yer, I had picked a good place to end my being. It was so alike him, and anything involving Edward had to be good, right? The current was moving me and I saw _him_. He looked so real, it was as if he were right there with his eyes swimming with onyx, and his pale body still managing to somehow shine Well that part was off, vampires sparkle and no rays of sun have made their way to the depths of the ocean. My body slammed into rock repeatedly and I felt the pain of my bones snapping. Ribs it felt like. The bones must have punctured my lungs because suddenly my whole torso was in pain, but I would take this over the hole any time. My breath flew from my lungs and I knew better than to try to breathe again. Plus this might make dying easier. How I looked upon death – as a kind of beacon, something good and hopeful. I was not afraid or what lay beyond me, like most humans. I did not fear death like most normal humans. But since when was I normal. The Cullen's always said I was never normal, such a strange being and they were right this exercise simply proves that (as if my absurd love of vampires didn't prove that) I felt a sharp pain in my head. It stung, like something sharp was penetrating my skull. I could feel the blood ooze from my head and the accompanying lightheadedness. My eye lids began to drop and I was content with Edward being the last thing that played behind my eye lids.

This was it. I was dying. No more Charlie or Renee or Jake. I would never see or talk to them again. No more school or wolf boys or vampires. That last one wasn't so bad the good ones didn't want me anyway.

My imagination must go crazy whilst dying. I felt something cold and hard wrapping around my waste. They felt remotely like Edwards arms.

I had been sure I was drowning, so confusion was evident when my head rose above the surface and I was laid on rocks.

"Bella? Bella!" I saw Edwards head frantically bobbing above my own.

"Bella open your eyes!" Strange, I don't remember closing them. Oh well, I'm crazy and dying anyways. "No you can't give up just stay with me please Bella! I need you....." His voice trailed as I went into unconsciousness.

* * *

Edward Point Of View

The jumble of voices floated around me, and their accompanying thought filled my mind as I tried to block out my feelings and my own thoughts, as if it were possible to block her out. I always new my Bella was stubborn until she got what she wanted, but this was getting ridiculous. She wouldn't leave me alone. Her face and her voice, her easy blush and her all-consuming light haunted my mind like no thoughts ever had, not that I'd change it if I could.

I couldn't take this. I needed to see my Bella. At least I hope she was still mine – selfish as that may be. I raced through the city lit by torches and city lights. Carnival was in full swing in Rio but the joy in the festivities was lost on me. Or had been, until I had made this decision – the knowledge that I was returning to the quiet little town where the rain always falls and will forever be the place I can call home was invigorating, and finally I could start to get some understanding of why people were still functioning let alone smiling and dancing and laughing, even though the world had ended months ago, but then I remembered that it was jut my own personal world that had ended, not everybody had made themselves leave the loves of their existence so that they could be safe, not everybody else was a vampire who stupidly enough fell in love with a human, let alone their singer – not that I'd take that back either. She had made my pathetic existence livable for the too short time we were together, but if I had my way, we would have an eternity together.

That last thought made me stop and feel another emotion- and changes in my emotion were increasingly rare these days-, shock. Did I really just allow myself to even consider changing Bella? Of course, I had wanted her to be with me forever since I realized I loved her, but that was not an option, for I refused to make her a monster. My angel shouldn't need to feel the thirst or the shame or the sadness or the emptiness that came with being a vampire. Mind you, I had only felt empty when I was without her, before she was even born mostly, I remember all to clearly how the days and nights blurred together when you were alone. But I would never let her to be alone. I would make sure that she had something to remember each day by, and her days wouldn't blur and her nights would be always be something to remember.

I wouldn't allow her to feel shame, because what did she have to be ashamed of. She had done nothing wrong and I knew she would never be a murder. She could never be a monster even if she was a vampire. She wouldn't be sad, because she would have the love of her family, and me, her mate. The thirst was unavoidable really, but precautions could be taken to make it easier and much more manageable.

She always said she wanted this, but how could she give up growing up and having kids and a SOUL for me? That never made sense to me. How could she, a human with human emotions, want to give up that much for me? She said I underestimated her love but how could she really love me as much as I her? She was my mate where as I was simply her high school boyfriend.

'_Yer, the high school boyfriend that she, by all rights, wanted to die for.' _That cryptic little voice in the back of my head reminded me, you know that one that wants you to allow yourself to believe what you really want to believe? Yer that one. Well I wanted to believe that she loved me as much as she said, as much as I loved her, even if I knew no one would ever love another as much as I loved my Bella.

But I would only ever allow Bella to be changed if she really wanted it, and if I knew that she would have a soul.

But hadn't I always called her my soul mate? And how could I have a soul mate if I didn't have a soul? How could I love and feel the bonds I felt towards her and my family if I had no soul. How could I possibly feel the sorrow and torment of being without her if I was soul-less. And I defiantly felt the pain, I doubt that I would ever forget it, even if I didn't have a vampire memory. More importantly I knew that I loved her, nothing was more powerful than my emotions for her, so if she were my soul mate, didn't I need to have a soul? Plus, Bella always said that when she looked into my eyes, it was like she could see straight into my soul – and Bella could not lie. Maybe I really wasn't soul-less

Plus, the mere idea of a creature like Bella not having a soul, vampire or human, was simply crazy.

This thought had me reeling, I could actually have a soul! And really that left no reason for why I couldn't change my love and made this whole separation even more pointless than I had earlier imagined! All I had to do now was get home and tell her……..

But what if she didn't want me. I wouldn't blame her of course and I defiantly wouldn't force myself upon her. I had hurt her and lied to her and broken promises, even if I thought it was for the best. If she wanted to be with me but didn't want to be like me, than I would be alright with that. I would stay with her until she ordered me away, but I would always be on the sideline to make sure she was alright or if she wanted me back.

I shook my head against such depressing thoughts, enjoying the fact that I could breath again and started to run again, pushing my legs as fast as I could, gradually gaining more and more speed. Other vampires probably couldn't even see me now.

I arrived at the airport and ran into the terminal, wishing that humans new about vampires so I could truly run. The woman at the counter assessed me with a smile on her face as she pushed her obviously fake lips and chest towards me, until she reached my own face, or maybe just my eyes. The black colour would be enough to scare her, but the dead look in them could make even a vampire depressed. I gave a sparing thought to Jasper, he must have been glad I left, at least on some level even if he would not admit that.

"What can I do for you sir?" The woman asked in a strained voice, as she tried to avoid my face. At least my eyes had put a halt to those obscene fantasies going through her head. I would only ever be like that with Bella….

_Wait you don't even no if she still loves you and your thinking about doing THAT with her. What is wrong with you!_

" I need a ticket to Port Angeles In Washington, America ."

" There is a flight leaving in an hour sir. Would you like a ticket on that?"

_What a stupid question, didn't I just say that I wanted to go to Port Angeles? No I don't want to get on the next plane, I want to go next week I just came early to make sure I didn't miss the flight!_

"Yer, I would appreciate that." I said in the politest voice I could manage, trying not to glare at her.

She printed my ticket and I raced to the terminal, as if that was going to make the plane come faster. Once I was seated I looked longingly towards the music store, but shook my head as a giant pain erupted in my chest. I gasped a turned my head, as my arms automatically would around my mid-section. I was better, but obviously still not healed. No doubt that that would take some time, and more important, Bella. I wanted to be able to play her her lullaby, but that might take some times. Unless she asked me to because I just could not deny her anything. After what seemed to be much more than an hour (I had already gotten up eight times to ask what was taking so long just to realize that barley any time had passed at all) they called my flight. I was the first up and the first on the plane. Honestly, I have no idea who I sat next to or what happened. My trip was filled with nothing but thoughts of Bella and I was quite content with that, but then my hone rang, making me jump. The sudden action caused the woman next to me to scream and that made her baby start crying. After apologizing profusely I whipped out my phone and glared at the caller ID. Of course Alice would have seen this.

"Edward!!" Was my greeting, as soon as I answered the phone.

"Hello sister dear, whatever may I do for you?" I answered in a monotone, but not without a smirk.

"Oh come off it Edward I can see that smirk. Now I'm gathering up the family and we should be in Forks a few hours after you as you will be landing in 48 minutes. Bella should be home by the time that you get there but I'm not sure, she's blurry because my brother wouldn't let me look for her. I honestly can't remember why I put up with that guy…….."

"Because you love me, and I'm going back." I said in a meek voice, knowing that she would forgive me.

"Oh that's right! Well anyway, I must be off, these suitcases will not pack themselves and I have a best friend to soon be reacquainted with. Don't hog her alright? Talk later Edward and I'll see you soon!" And with that final statement she hung up. The next forty eight minutes passed in a blur and soon enough I was on the ground and racing towards Forks.

I wasn't to far away when my phone rang again. Alice could be persistent and at the present time, what with being so close to Bella I couldn't even be annoyed.

"Hello Alice-" But my greeting was cut of with Her terrified ramblings of

"Bella, La Push, Future not there, cliff!! Run Edward!! Don't just stand there run!"

That was all the incentive I needed. The treaty was forgotten and I didn't care about the borderline. I ran past the line that would lead me to my love and kept on pushing my legs until I could see the ocean and the rocks. I was on a trail and I caught that delicious scent that evoked not only the monster but the man in me. Ignoring the burn I followed it and raced up the hills, to were the cliff reached it peek and Bella's scent was clearest. And then there she was. My Bella, just standing at the edge, her feet softly tracing the edge. I didn't dare move any closer or try to grab her, in fear that I would shock her and she would fall. So instead I spoke softly as I tried to fight away the panic that was still inside of me and was making things like breathing and not shouting and not crying and standing still all but impossible.

"Bella." I tried to be calm but I do not know if that quite worked. None the less, she exhaled. I had a chance at this, she had heard me and hopefully she would listen and step away from her death, not turn and trip or jump anyway. She couldn't hate me that much could she? The worry was starting to build up again so I spoke one more. She had to leave that edge.

"Don't do this." She couldn't do this.

Still no movement from Bella and I feared that she hadn't heard me. "Please. For me."

At this stage she still hadn't responded, though her heart had sped up but adrenaline was now pulsing through her system.

"Please, you can not do this to me!! Just step away Bella!!" I thought I saw a slight hesitation but then she did the unthinkable. My beloved jumped from the jagged rocks and it was all I could do to roar her name "Bella no!" as she let out a scream with so many emotions that it all but broke my dead heart. I jumped in after her and saw her meet the water, narrowly missing the rocks. I could see the ocean swallowing her just as I submerged. With all the underwater activity, it was hard to find her, but I did it. Her brown eyes met my black and she looked so bewildered and happy and……..content that I just wanted to scream. You would think she wanted to die!! A big set of waves blew her away from me just as I had started to move again and the crack from her ribs was obvious even from here. The sound echoed and shook me to the core. The waves continued to pull her away and closer to more outcroppings of rocks as I struggled to get to her. She flew into another rock and again I heard the sound of her bones breaking and I felt sick. I could see the blood oozing from her head and became even more desperate. I finally reached her and wrapped my arms around her tiny waist.

As inappropriate as it was at the present time, I could help but marvel in the fact that she still fit into me perfectly, even if she was much skinner, and a quarter of an inch taller, it seemed. I pulled her from the ocean and set her on the rocks.

Her eyes opened and they held so much love and confusion and joy that I just wanted to stare into them forever. "Bella! Bella?" She just had to answer. But her eyes closed and then I felt as if I had died, again. "No you can't give up just stay with me please Bella! I need you…….." Her heartbeat was slowing and she was loosing to much blood and I could tell that she was giving up. I would not allow her to die! She couldn't die not knowing the truth. She couldn't, and selfish as it may be, she couldn't leave me. She was _my_ Bella and we had had so little time together. I always knew that when she were to die, I would to, but I had the chance to stop this, and we could be together again. The hope bubbled up inside of me and suddenly all that I could remember was her voice and the count less times she had told me that she would always love me no matter what and that she wanted to be like me, that she wanted to be my equal. I remembered her smiling and kissing me and telling me that she loved me more than life and with that image I had my decision. I had made up my mind. I took a deep breath and slowly lowered my lips to her slender and soft neck.

_So what do you think???? I know this has been done before but I love it __I really appreciate reviews and accept criticism. The second chapter is almost done, I'm halfway there and it should be up by Tuesday. Tell me what you think._


	2. Chapter 2 Comming Home

_Alright so this isn't Tuesday, but my plans for today didn't happen so I spent the day sick in bed and writing. This is chapter two (oviously) and chapter three will be up soon. I think it will be posted with chapter four, but chapter three will just be a smaller one in Bella's point of view. Reviews are appreciated. Just wanna say an epic thankyou to dragonsong94 and imhislover22 for their imediate reviews. Enjoy --_

Chapter Two - Comming Home -

_The blood……..so good_……..**But she has to live**!........_Just drain her, nobody will have to know_. That last thought made rational thought come flooding back, and my head pull away from Bella's soft neck. The girl must live, Bella had to live for without her, I was nothing. The lull of her blood was so strong but I was fighting the monster, and I was winning. He didn't put up to much of a fight now, because even my monster loved this human girl. I took deep breaths of the air, it helped even if it was tainted with the scent of her glorious blood, but that didn't bother me now. Typical, as soon as I start to get over my thirst for her blood, she is going to loose the life-giving liquid, just my luck.

I looked down upon the sleeping angel and slowly, gently pulled her into my arms. Her heart beat was picking up but she was still loosing to much blood. I gently laid her back on the rock and proceeded to tare of my shirt, wrapping it round her head like a bandage, hoping to prevent her blood spill. Gently, I picked her up and cradled her to my chest, placing a loving kiss on her forehead. With that, I raced round the cliff edge and onto the beach, pushing my legs but supporting her head and neck. I broke into the forest and ran towards my house. That big white house Bella had always loved would be the perfect place for her to awake, but I wasn't sure if that was an option. I had caught the smell of wolf and they had probably caught my scent. But if they were such noble protectors, you would think that they world try and help a human about to throw herself off of a cliff. I ran and ran until I started to hear the stream, signaling that I was almost there.

The giant white house came into view and I burst through the door. Esme probably wouldn't like that but I'd deal with that issue when it arose. I ripped the plastic cover off of the couch and placed my poor Bella on it, trying to avoid thinking about how much pain she was in. I ran up the grand staircase and into Carlisle's study, praying to God that he still had bandages and basic medical supplies in here somewhere. I had gotten to the cupboard were they would be, but then the phone on the oak desk rang.

"Edward I'm so sorry I didn't see it earlier, but she's just so blurry and when I looked that's where she was and I was to far away and I didn't know what to do but she's alright now right!?" Alice's hysterical voice meet me and I couldn't help but feel sympathy for the little pixie I honestly saw as a sister.

"Yer Alice she should be fine. I, I bit her Alice. I think it was the right thing to do – she couldn't die right there in front of me – but I don't know if it's what she wants anymore. What….did I do the right thing?" I couldn't help but let my doubt seep through my voice. Alice had to be able to answer, it was Alice, she always knew.

"Well, of course, I think it was the right thing, as do the rest of us, even if princess Rose is a bit pissed," I heard Rosalie's hiss of objection in the background, either to being called 'Princess', or about Bella's turn, I don't know and didn't particularly care at this point in time. " I know she agrees, but as for Bella's reaction, I can't tell you."

"You can't tell me because you haven't seen or because you just don't want to?" I asked, thinking that I already knew the answer.

"You should be surprised every one and a while Ed, it is healthy!" I could practically hear her smile.

"Coming from the frigging clairvoyant, seriously kid?" I didn't even have the heart to tell her not to call me Ed, I just wanted Bella. Why was fate so against me? Did I commit many sins in a past life? Or, this one I guess……..

"Oh stop moping Edward, all will be good and no I won't tell you her reaction!" The end of her sentence made me snap my mouth shut, she was just freaky sometimes – even by my standards and I hear voices in my head. " Don't give me that look Edward!"

"Honestly Alice why can't you just-" But then a shattering scream came from the first floor and the phone was crushed in my hand. Bandages forgotten, I ran back to Bella to find her eyes wide open and clutching at her torso.

"Bella! Bella my love you need to try and listen to me alright?" Her eyes swilved to meet mine and her screams lessened to mere whimpers, but whimpers that tore at my heart and my conscience. Her eyes widened in shock as she just lay there staring at me. I placed my hands on either side of her face, noting again how perfectly she fit, as if the angel had been created just for me. Her whimpers lessened in frequency. I couldn't help but to take a few seconds to simply stare into her eyes, until she blinked and I regained my train of thought.

"Bella, you know what this pain is right? I bit you after you jumped of the cliff," I was unable to contain all of my anger and concern and some of it made its way through into my voice. Calm as I tried to be, inside I was screaming and just wanted to break things from frustration. Jumping off a bloody cliff! "You were to hurt and you were giving up, I could tell. You wouldn't have lived and I couldn't let you just….die." I whimpered the last word, but comprehension and shock filled her eyes so I think that she understood. "I'm hoping that you can forgive me for this, my Bella," I said whilst I leaned my forehead upon her own, unable to resist, but not really trying to. "But it was the only thing that I could do, It's not your time, you just couldn't die."

Instead, I felt like I was dying. Until I felt something that made my eyes snap open even though I don't remember closing them. Bella had somehow managed to raise her trembling hand, and run it softly through my hair, her soft and short nails gently scrapping my scalp.

I stared at her in shock, how had she managed to do that? I remember my change and I was all but delusional. I was shocked that she had heard a word I had just said, but she was moving, voluntarily, none the less. I'd never met another vampire, or soon to be vampire I should say, apart from Carlisle that had such control over their actions during the change. She wasn't even screaming anymore and the pain had to be getting worse as the venom, my venom , was spreading through her body. Looking into her wide eyes, I felt like I was swimming in them – ironic as that is, considering the events that took place just a half hour ago.

She continued to softly run her glorious, perfectly sized and shaped hand through my messy bronze hair. The heat and just the fact that it was _her_ was enough to make my eyes close and a content sigh to fall from my parted lips. The motion continued for a few more minutes as her other still trembling hand raised to cup my ice cold cheek. I leaned into her hand as she ran her thumb just above my cheek bone. I don't know how long we sat there for, but eventually I realized how backwards this was, and almost grinned yet screamed and the absurdity of this all. Here she was in complete pain and probably trying not to scream, still soaking wet and being changed into a vampire and she's comforting me – the idiot who left her and caused her enough pain to try to take her own life. So Bella like.

With a speed and gentleness that only vampires could pull off, I ducked out of her hands, but grabbed the one that had been resting on my cheek and twined my fingers with her thin ones. She looked hurt for a moment but then her expression went back to….joyful? How was that possible? The woman was smiling! She had vampire venom running through her veins and hardening her soft skin and she was _smiling._ No matter how many centuries I had with her, I doubt that I would every fully understand the mystery that is Bella Swan. Whatever the reason for her happy face, it was nice to pretend that I was doing the right thing and that I was the cause for that small, but still breath taking smile that was gracing her face.

We stayed like that, staring at each others faces and – at least on my part – re-memorizing each others features, while I held her petite hand and she had that little unreasonable smile on her face until the sun started to set, and my plane had landed at mid-day. Bella was still wet, and while she probably didn't fell the temperature of her clothing or feel if they were uncomfortable, it just didn't feel appropriate to leave her there in still wet clothing. But that meant that I would have to undress her, and I didn't know if she would be comfortable with that. I didn't know if I would be comfortable with that. Sure, I had seen snippets of Bella in a her underwear before, but only through Alice's mind if she were having a vision that involved Bella trying on things for her or when Bella had broken her leg and required Alice's help. I would simply look at Alice's mind for a few minutes to see if they were ready for me, but sometimes I still saw bits and pieces. But still, undressing the love of my existence, without her permission, while she was in pain – because of me – did seem a bit strange, but Alice and Esme and Rose weren't home yet so it seemed that I had no other option.

Placing a lingering kiss on her hand, I regrettably let go of her hand and placed it on her stomach. Her whimper at the loss of contact (or so I hoped that that was what it was at, selfish again ) was enough to make me go to pick it up again but I had something that had to be done, and I would be back quickly no matter. I dashed up the stairs to the third floor and ran to my walk-in-wardrobe. Some of the clothes that Alice had bought for Bella were still here in what Alice had dubbed the 'Draw for Bella so piss off Edward' draw. Not that I minded that Bella had a draw in my room, I enjoyed the fact probably more than I should have, I had simply wanted to know what Alice was doing in my room and why she was singing some annoying song in her mind – that always meant that she was up to no good. Only later did I find out that she'd thrown out my favorite shoe's that I had refused to part with because 'they were to old and had been worn to much.' I'd had them for about eight months and wore them twice a week, that was all Alice allowed.

I grabbed a pair of jeans and a white short sleeved shirt and continued to race to the bathroom to get a towel. Then I ran back to Bella. Being away from her, even just to get her clothes was painful, I could feel that gaping hole coming back. She was still whimpering but her eyes and mouth were now clamped shut and she had curled up. Crouching, I put the clothes on the floor, picked up one of her hands in mine and used my spare hand to gently stroke her hair. Slowly, her eyes reopened until she was staring at me again, looking for answers to her unspoken questions.

"Bella love, I'm going to change your clothes alright. Can you try and show me if I can do this or not? Please?' I wanted to make sure that she understood so that she wouldn't be too scared when I started, but I didn't really expect a response, so imagine my surprise when her eyes widened in shock, but her head moved down and up just enough so that I could see. I gave her a smile as she attempted to un-curl herself. After she had managed that, I pulled of her converse shoes and her white socks, putting them one the floor near the clean clothes. I moved my hand along her leg until I reached her waist and the button of her jeans. Taking a steadying breath I moved my hands to the button and un did the thing as fast as possible. I pulled her pants down her legs, trying not to let my eyes linger anywhere, not even on her creamy thighs….

_Snap out of it Edward!! Have some respect! Honestly you'd think you were actually seventeen!_

Shaking my head, to ride it of such un-gentlemanly thoughts, I quickly pulled the remainder of her pants of, grabbing the white towel, that almost matched the colour of her legs,

_Edward!_

, and dried off her legs. Setting her towel on the floor, I grabbed the new pants and carefully pulled them up her legs, doing up the button and looking her over, feeling quite proud of myself – even if I had all but molested her in my mind. Now all I had to do was change her shirt….

_Shit._

Another scream from Bella pulled me from my thoughts. It was all I could do not join in her wails at the sight that lay before me. Tears streamed down her face and she clutched at her torso even tighter than before. How I had not smelt the salt from her tears I had no idea, but that wasn't important right now.

"Bella!" I shouted at her, crouching down again and cupping her still soft cheek with one hand and running my fingers through her mahogany locks with the other.

"Bella, I know it hurts but it'll all by over in just a few days alright. You're not dying or dead and you're not in hell, alright." I remember from my own change that I thought I was dead and being punished for sins I couldn't remember committing. She continued to whimper and clutch at her torso, but she her sounds were lessening in frequency as time went on and she continued to stare into my eyes. After a few minutes, her whimpers stopped and her grip on herself lessened.

I couldn't believe I had put her through this. I was almost certain that she would have a soul (how could she not?) but she was going through so much pain and really, no matter what I thought, there was no way in really knowing if she knew what I was saying, or if she even recognized me. There wasn't even a way of knowing if she would remember me when the change was complete. The despair rose up in my chest and throat. What if she didn't remember me, what if she didn't love me. What if she was _scared_ of me? What would I do then, or worse yet, what if she did remember, but didn't want to. What if she left us, left me, and went of on her own as a thirsty and scared newborn. There was no way that I'd let that happen, even if she stayed with the family until she had gained control and I had to leave. That would be for the best. As I looked down to her bewildered face, much like the one that had haunted me when I first ran away to Alaska, after we had first met, I knew more than ever that I _could not_ let her go. She was back and I wasn't letting go this time. I was going to do whatever it took.

Really, I had to have been kidding myself if I thought that I would just let her go when she told me to leave. I would of clung on until she came at me with a lighter, and then probably would have let her just do the deed so that she could properly get on with her life. There was no way to let her go and after the experience of the last few months, I knew I wouldn't survive another 'permanent' separation from her, it would kill me.

A shock of lightening just outside the huge window shook me out of my revive. It was raining harder them before, I wouldn't be surprised if the river overflowed. Coming back into focus, I remembered my job. Bella's shirt was still soaking wet and, like I said, it just didn't seem right to leave her like that. Taking another calming breath, trying to squish away the panic and loss that had taken residency in my chest, and started to speak again.

"Bella, I'm gunna try and change your shirt this time, is that alright?" Again, another small nod to signify that I was allowed, and that she had heard, and understood.

The small gesture, just a simple nod, blew me away. How was she doing this? She had control over her body and her actions whilst going through what was probably the worst pain she would ever suffer.

Keeping eye contact, I slowly moved my face away from hers, not remembering it getting so close, and moved my hands down her sides, until I reached the hem of her shirt. Another deep breath and I started to pull it up, making sure to keep eye contact and to not let my eyes wander to where they really wanted to. When her shirt got up to her arms, I had no idea how to get it of. I couldn't very well ask her to lift up her arms. With a sigh, I ripped the middle of her shirt open, still trying not to look anywhere but her eyes, even if they did register shock. I pulled of the old shirt and set the ripped material on the ground. Now I just had to put the new shit on….

_Did you really think that this would be as easy as ripping her shirt?_

Picking up her towel and finally breaking that eye contact, I started to dry her wet stomach, gulping when that was done and I had to move my hands up. My eyes completely skimming over that area and straight back to her eyes, trying desperately not to think about what I had just seen, and what I was touching – which was exceedingly difficult. Why today, of all days, did she choose to wear a lace bra?

After her chest was dry, I gently brought her up so that I could dry her back. Having her chest pressed again my own defiantly _was not helping_ the whole 'don't think about it' thing I was attempting. Putting her gently back on the couch and dropping the towel on to the floor, I picked up the new white shirt, realizing gratefully that it was a button up. Unbuttoning it, I slid her arms through it and then buttoned it up, sighing contently in victory and sending a lazy smile in her direction.

_Well, that was fun………_

Alice Point of view

I couldn't help but laugh at the relieved expression on Edwards face. It was so different to his expression when he was touching her stomach, or looking at her thighs. I had been pretty much laughing non-stop for the past half hour, and while I'm sure that most of the plane thought that I was crazy, it was so worth it. Jasper had just been sending me confused yet amused glances but I think that he was really starting to get worried, as was Esme on my other side, which just caused me to laugh all that much more.

I watched as my mother-figure and my husband exchanged a worried glance.

"Erm, Alice dear, are you alright? You have been laughing for a while now, it's getting a little strange." Esme trailed of and it was all I could do to squeak out,

"Edward, you should have seen his face!" Before I exploded into hysterics again.

"Edward!" Chorused five anxious voices around me, while Jasper sent me calming waves and I stopped laughing.

"Yer, Edward, you should see his face." I said with a giggle.

"What's wrong with Edward, what do you mean about his face?" A concerned Carlisle questioned from the seat behind Esme, trying to poke his head through the gap between the seats.

"No, he's fine, it's just that he tried to undress Bella so that he could put her in dry clothes, he, erm, struggled with it, and his expression was just so funny."

Jasper and Emmett cracked up laughing along with me, and even Esme couldn't help her lips from twitching up.

"Poor dears." Was all she could manage before she put her headphones back in and turned her hear towards the window, hoping, no doubt, that no one would see her smile.

Carlisle signed and leaned back in his seat, his hand twitching to the mobile phone that was on the outside pocket of the briefcase under Esme's seat, his eyes slowly straying towards it and I couldn't help but smirk. Jasper was starting to calm, but Emmett was still laughing about the idea of "Prudish Eddie trying to undress semi-conscious Bella" as he so finely put it. Rosalie was hissing at Emmett trying to get him to stop attracting more attention and making a scene, whilst lecturing him on how women need to be respected and how he had probably told Bella, even if she didn't understand.

Esme was just smirking and shaking her head, still looking out her window.

Carlisle's hand was still twitching so I decided to put him out of his misery. We all knew how desperately he wanted to be with Edward and Bella, helping instead of sitting on the airplane chair. At least, he wanted to be able to call them and ask Edward what was going on and if their had been any complication, all the technical stuff that he was so concerned with, no matter how many times I told him that Bella would be fine.

"Honestly, just call him but there is no guarantee that he will pick up the phone."

Wasting no time, Carlisle dived to briefcase to grab his phone, hitting his head on the way up, leaving a dent in the seat and causing Esme to jump in surprise, because she had zoned out. Her knee bumped the tray that she had unfolded to put her book on, and it broke, the left side snapping of the hinges. We all stared at it for a moment, before a sheepish smile appeared on Carlisle's face and Esme's face contorted to a look of embarrassed horror.

"Oops." Was all Carlisle said, but that was all we needed. The woman over the isle spilt her drink in shock at the sudden noise, otherwise known as the laughter of six vampires.

"Oh well, Emmett's supposed to sit here, his fault." Esme said with an easy shrug of her shoulders. While the rest of us started up again, Emmett sat there with a look or rejection mingled with distress on his child-like face. All I could think of was how Cullen's and planes just really didn't mix today.

Carlisle started to dial in the Fork's home number and all went silent. On the forth ring, Edwards hurried voice rang out an impatient "Hello?"

"Edward, we'll be there in a few hours but how is she? How are you?" and then Carlisle gave a slight smirk "How did you handle the whole undressing her thing?" and then we all cracked up again, except Carlisle, but you could see how much effort he was putting into it.

Edward was silent for a few moments then a simple "Thankyou Alice." Was called from the phone, causing us all to laugh again. None of us had been this joyous in months, ever since we were forced to leave Bella behind. It was a nice change of atmosphere from tension and sadness, I must say.

"Bella is doing alright, she's only screamed a few times and hasn't thrashed or anything as far as I've seen. But it is amazing. She can control her voice enough to stop her whimpers and she can control her actions, her movements. Well at least she could I don't know if she still….oh yer, she can still control her movements." And he sounded so much calmer. "You have to be careful on your way here," He continued, that calmness still there but laced with something else, frustration maybe? "The wolves are back in La Push and they probably caught me scent. Did Alice tell you what happened?"

Every head swilved in my direction and I looked down at my hands. Truth be told, I hadn't told anyone. I had been packing alone when I had had the vision and made the call. Everyone had heard my cry after I had hung up and had hurried to help me and continue on packing so that we wouldn't miss the flight, but I couldn't tell Jazz with the others so close, and I hadn't wanted them to hear. They would all be devastated, Esme especially. She had attempted suicide the same way that our Bella had, and she saw Bella as her daughter. Now, the two were meeting the same fate. I just hadn't had the heart to tell her, not yet.

"No, we just know that there was an accident." Carlisle replied.

"Well, yer," Edward seemed to have the same reservations that I had about telling them. "the accident happened in La Push, so I had to cross the border, break the treaty. I smelt wolf and I don't know if they caught my scent, it's raining really hard now, my scent could have washed away. We'll have to leave the area very very soon, either before the change finishes or just after she's hunted, we will have to drive in the night, so that not that many people are out, and we will take as many deserted roads as possible, or we can try and run to Alaska or Canada. What do you think?"

"The wolves! Their back? But I thought that they all died, that the gene wasn't there anymore. Alice, did you see this?"

Again, every head turned in my direction. My eyes were wide with shock and my mouth was probably open. Slowly, I shook my head. The disappointment and self-doubt slowly crept up, but then Jazz picked me up and placed me on his lap, sending me waves of love, comfort and reassurance.

Carlisle seemed convinced. "Alright well we will have a think about it and then call you back later. We will be landing in a few hours so we will call you when we land. We'll get bigger cars incase we need to drive anywhere."

"Thankyou Carlisle, I'll see you all soon." Was Edward's original reply before he hung up.

The next few hours were filled with conversation ranging from things as stupid as ' which human will go to the bathroom next' or more serious conversations like, would we bring Bella back to Ithaca or if we would move again and what power Bella would have, because she just _had _to have something.

Finally, we landed in Port Angeles and made our way off the plane, heading to the small rental car desk, manned by a large, kind looking brunette woman.

"Hello, how may I help you today." She said, looking straight at _my_ husband.

_Huh, maybe not so kind after all._

Jasper put on his business voice, and politely informed her that we needed the two car's, but had no idea how long we would need them for. Well that was bound to raise some eyebrows, literally, it seemed. She raised a skeptical eyebrow at him.

I could feel the persuasion rolling off of him, directed straight at the women who, with a sigh, sorted throw her draw for a booklet of all the kinds of car's that she had. Jasper and Emmett busied themselves with that, but I had better things to do. I made my way to one of the benches, closely followed by Carlisle and Esme, and sat down. They took a place on either side of me and Carlisle began to talk. I turned my head to him, giving him a fleeting smile, which he returned, before diving into the future. We were good at this routine, they would talk and I would pretend to listen so that nobody would pay to much attention to me or question why I had such a blank look one my face.

_Edward pulling off the shirt on Bella's head and throwing it on the pile of her wet clothes. He dabbed a cloth in a bowl and wiped the blood from her hair, then dried it with the towel he had been using to fry her with earlier._

He's so caring; he would have made a great dad of that were at all possible.

_Bella, with blood red eyes, was running with Edward (who couldn't take his eyes off her) hand in hand. She had a breathtaking smile on her face as she raced with him through the forest._

"_You know, this is much better when you can actually see what's going on." She mused in a breathtaking voice._

_Edward laughed, a real laugh, with a real smile gracing his lips._

That vision was bound to happen, they were probably hunting, Bella's first go no doubt. Of course Edward would want to take her, but I want to go to! I'll have to see what I can do about that.

_Edward dragged a bashful looking Bella into the house. She had blood all over her clothes and her shirt was ripped all over. I screamed and ran over, _

"_What did you do! I loved those jeans!"_

"_Sorry Alice" was Bella's simple reply while Emmett basically fell off of the couch laughing._

_Edward just chuckled and dragged her up the stairs, whispering something that I couldn't hear, but made Bella stop walking and her mouth open in shock._

They were so cute together, but what did he say?

_We were all running together with bags on our backs, hand in hand with our mates, all except me, who was jumping all over the place, practically dancing through the forest while Jazz tried to catch me. He almost had me but then he........fell over?_

I started laughing, ignoring the shocked look that Carlisle gave me. Looking over at the desk I saw Jasper giving me a quizzical look, that just made me laugh harder and point at him. He pouted and looked back at the counter, pointing at the car that he wanted. Looking back at Carlisle, who gave me a pointed look, I said –

"He fell over! It was so funny, fell straight on his face!" and started to laugh again. Carlisle just sighed and shook his head.

Looking back over at Jasper, I saw him put his credit card in the counter and the women's eyes widen in surprise. She swiped the card and handed over the keys and the card very slowly. With a too-sweet smile on my face, I walked up and grabbed my husbands hand, said "Thankyou!" and dragged him to the carport with the others trailing behind us, Emmett and Rose arguing and Esme contently holding Carlisle's hand as he punched in the home number.


	3. Chapter 3 Changing

_**Please just read the first sentence !**_

_This chapter is only small but chapter four has been posted at the same time! This chapter is all Bella and won't have all that much context in it, just re-doing what we already know. I usually don't like this, but it helped me write when I couldn't think of anything big to happen. There won't be to much about the pain of the change because it annoys me when people go on and on about how much it hurts, it's depressing. Enjoy the next two chapters. _

Chapter Three – Changing -

Bella Point Of View – (Starting from where she looses consciousness at the beach)

I had to have been going crazy, right? Or some kind of wish fulfillment for the dying, something like that. Edward simply couldn't be here and if he was, I had just made the biggest mistake of my life, or past life, if I'm dead. Why does this have to be so confusing? Because if I was dead, or dying, and Edward is here there is no way that he would change me, even if he did say that he needed me, and so I've lost the love of my life (or past life) again. Just my luck.

And right there was more proof on the wish fulfillment. Edward doesn't need me, doesn't want me either, so why would he bother coming back.

Unless Alice sent him, told him what I was planning and saw that I would die. Maybe he felt guilty. But why would he say that he needed me, why would he sound so upset, tell me not to give up?

There was pain now, not the fading and somewhat dull pain of the broken bones. This was new and steaming from my neck, flowing through my veins like wildfire. It was familiar, like the vampire venom that James injected before, when everything was right and good and happy, even under those disastrous circumstances. The pain was so bad but I couldn't move and I don't understand why, feels like I'm trapped in my own mind. This was definitely vampire venom, I think, so that helped with the whole 'Edward's here' thing. But why would he change me. He doesn't want me now let alone for forever. Something cold wrapped around my torso and pulled me onto an even colder surface than the one I was previously on.

The cold thing, arms they felt like – Edward's arms maybe – put me back onto the original surface. The pain was getting worse and I wanted Edward to help me, but if this meant that I could be like him, and that he wanted me, than I could suffer through the three day pain and become a vampire, just like my love. And if he had changed me but didn't want me, still wanted his distractions, I could follow. I would be fast and strong and maybe even beautiful now. Sure, not as beautiful as him or Rosalie, and not as graceful and Alice and Esme, not as strong as Emmett or smart as Jasper or Carlisle, but an improvement on now. Something wet and cold wrapped round my head. Then, the things that I'm even more certain were Edward's arms wrapped around me again, and lifted me up, holding me to another cold surface, his chest maybe? I wish I could open my eyes, I needed to see if this was him. Something cold and hard, but still soft met my forehead. Could it be his lips? I must be crazy.

The wind was whipping through my hair now and the fire was moving. No, not moving, it still hurt on my neck, but it was spreading, infecting more of my body. It was burning and the wind was trying to help me, trying to put out the fire but it was just so hot! I was more sleepy and it was hard to think, hard to be, hard to understand things.

Why wasn't Edward helping me, couldn't he see that this was hurting!

Where am I and what is this….fire, like its in my head….

So tired….

My chest hurt, I can't remember why, but it is just familiar. Why was it hurting so much? It was burning!

I tried to think, tried to remember. This pain was like with James, but more, this one wasn't just my hand, this one was my whole upper body and one of my arms. Why? I remember the cliff, I needed to jump, to hear Edward. And I did. And it was so, so good – better than ever before. I almost felt him there. But when I hit the water I got hurt, really hurt – but I even saw him. And then I was out of the water and he was still there. Then everything went away and I couldn't move or feel or see or hear. But then I felt cold, it felt like Edward, and than the fire….Oh yes, I remember everything now.

I was turning into a vampire. Finally.

And more importantly, Edward was here, he was with me and he was the one to bite me! But why was he here and why would he bother biting me and having to put up with me as a crazy newborn? I never figured that one out. But he was here and that was enough for now.

But the fire was moving, my heart! It burnt! The scream that left me was out of my control. On the plus side my eyes were open, but I wasn't really seeing anything. The fire was spreading and my poor already broken heart wasn't meant to put up with this kind of pain, but at least it was getting solidified, no matter what it felt like, instead of torn apart. Then I head the voice of my Angel. He spoke urgently with a voice like honey and all things good and right, even if his voice did crack a little.

"Bella! Bella my love you need to try and listen to me alright?" And there he was, my Edward, right in front of me, with so much concern and pain and love written in his features that I just wanted to comfort him, or cry. He was right there but there was so much pain that I couldn't even reach out and touch him, couldn't do anything. But I could look. There were no words to describe him. Maybe it was because he was so…. Perfect, or because the pain was still making it so hard to think. But wait, did he just say Bella love, as in love? No he couldn't of. Maybe I was still asleep, because I'm sure I'm not dead, or maybe I'll be a crazy vampire. First insane vampire, that could be my gift or something. Great.

"Bella, you know what this pain is right? I bit you after you jumped of the cliff," Oops. I think he's angry. I can tell that he is trying to hide it, but I know him better than he thinks. I can hear it in his voice and see it in his eyes, eyes that I know better than my own. "You were to hurt and you were giving up, I could tell. You wouldn't have lived and I couldn't let you just….die." He whimpered the word die, but I don't understand why! He said be safe, sure, but why did he really care if I died; I'm just plain, boring broken-hearted Bella Swan. Why did he change me? Not that it bothers me really, not that I'd change the fact that he did. "I'm hoping that you can forgive me for this, my Bella," he said whilst he leaned his forehead on my own and closed his eyes, that had a trim of red round the edges. It gave me a strange and irrational surge of pride, knowing that _my_ blood was swimming through his veins right now._ My_ blood had cured his hunger for now and_ my_ blood was keeping him strong right now. "But it was the only thing that I could do, It's not your time, you just couldn't die."

He looked like he was in so much pain, pain that I didn't understand but still pain. With that expression you would think that he was the one going through the change. I had to help him, he just couldn't feel like that, that expression shouldn't be there. I did the only thing that made sense, or more like, the only thing that I thought of. I raised my hand and pulled it through his hair. His mostly black eyes snapped open faster than I could blink, or take my hand away. But the look in his eyes made me keep my hand there, he looked better. I kept my hand running through his hair and eventually, his eyes closed and a sighed from his parted lips. After a while, I don't know how long, I raised the hand that hurt, the burning one and cupped his perfect cheek, running my thumb just above his cheek bone. After awhile, his eyes opened and his was gone from my grasp. That hurt. But then his hand was in mine and I couldn't help but smile – which just confused him even more.

We continued for awhile, but then he left and the pain came back more then before, but I was getting used to it. I closed my eyes and mouth and curled up. Then he was back, and wanted to undress me. I was too shocked to blush. He took of my pants, his eyes lingering and boosting my self esteem like nothing else ever had. He started to stare at my shirt when another wave of pain came through me and crashed round my lungs. He told me I wasn't dead and that I wasn't going to hell. But then he ripped of my shirt, which put some pretty inappropriate thoughts in my head, especially considering the current situation and the fact that I wasn't with him. I don't quite know how he managed to get the shirt on, it was still hard to think and I was tired again, it was so much effort just to stay awake. But he was here, and I don't know how long for, so I'm not wasting my time with him even if I can't tell him what I need to.

He _needs_ to know that he is in danger. The wolves would get him, he was out numbered and had been on their land. Didn't he know how dangerous that was? He had to have caught the scent, they were running everywhere and there were so many of them now. I had to tell him. So what if concentrating on speaking or trying not to scream whenever I opened my mouth brought even more unbearable pain. He had to know what was wrong. He was risking his life for me, and I wouldn't le him be harmed, he was far too important to be killed because of me, the pathetic little human that he had saved on more occasions than one, in more _ways_ than one. Slowly, deliberately, I opened my mouth a fraction of an inch, struggling with the urge to scream. He noticed, because that lazy, gorgeous smile was wiped straight off his face and his hands were on my cheeks again, brushing against my mouth.

"Bella, love, it's alright to scream, it helps." But I could see how much he wished I would stay silent in his eyes. "I'm so sorry." He whimpered, closing his eyes while his voice cracked.

"Edward" I mumbled, immediately shutting my mouth so that the scream that was on its was wouldn't leave.

I seemed to have gained his attention, his eyes snapped open, as did his mouth.

"Err…umm…..Bella? Did you… did you just? Speak. Did you just speak or am I going insane, again." He stammered. What did he mean again?

I needed to know, the curiosity was like the fire. Burning, raging.

"Wolves back, you broke…."

"The treaty?" He finished my sentence for me, still looking shocked. What was the big deal, I could talk. Couldn't the others? I mean, if you can scream than you can talk too, right?

My returning nod was small, but he saw it.

"Yer, I know but that doesn't matter, we can deal with that later. We will have to leave town, probably never come back. If you want, we can say that somebody else changed you and we found each other again." He started to stroke my cheek, and that look of love and adoration was in his eyes again. "We can figure something out. The others will be here soon and they probably have some ideas."

Later, we? What did _that _mean? Was he going to stay? Was he planning on keeping me this time? Did being a vampire make me good enough for him or was I missing something?

"Later?"

"Yer, after the change is complete and it's easier to think." He seemed to be concentrating on something, thinking hard and a look of rejection crossed over his features before he cleaned it up and that blank, lifeless, professional look came back to his face, just like the one he wore on the day that I died. The day that he left. The mere memory of that day hurt, brought back the gaping hole and my chest and caused a shattering scream to issue from my throat, and my arms to fly back to my torso, trying feebly to hold myself together.

"Bella, Bella!" His hands flew back to my cheeks and I was instantly soothed.

He gave me a concerned look before answering.

"Yer, later. After you change, when you're a new born," he appeared to be struggling with the words. "Your thirst is really strong, control is very difficult but it's harder when you're on your own. I think that you should come with me and my family to – wherever we go. I think there all living in Ithaca but don't know if they are planning to stay there. I know that they all miss you and that they can't wait to see you, and that they would be more than happy to take you in, permanently even, if that was what you wanted. If your not, erm, comfortable around me when you wake, than I could leave for a while." His head had lowered as he spoke, but when he finished, a look of determination crossed his features that I didn't understand. "But I would come back," His head raised to look me in the eye. "I let you go once and that proved absolutely pointless, what I didn't want to happen I realized wasn't so bad, and then he happened anyway – by my hand no less. The whole separation was a complete waste of time, time I _could_ have spent with you. Can't believe I was so naive in the first place." A faraway look entered his eyes and all I could think was –

_And I didn't think I could get anymore confused._

_Alright, that was chapter three. Chapter five or six will be another of Bella's point of view, I think. I'm really just doing this by whim. Reviews are appreciated._


	4. Chapter 4 Stay

_**Chapter four, back to Edward's point of view and the return of the Cullen's! **_

Chapter Four – Stay -

Previously - Unbuttoning it, I slid her arms through it and then buttoned it up, sighing contently in victory and sending a lazy smile in her direction.

_Well, that was fun………_

So, what now? After such an eventful day, it seemed strange to just sit and wait – even if I did get to stare at Bella. I felt like I just had to do something,_ anything. _There had to be some kind of preparation for Bella that I could make, for when she was finished. I could scout the area to make sure that animals were around, but that involved leaving her and I just was **not** prepared to make that sacrifice.

Plus leaving the house could spread my trail around enough to not only scare the animals off, but the wolves might also pick up my scent, if they hadn't already. That wouldn't end well. Regardless, there was still over two days till she was done and we would probably just go over things with her a bit first, tell her that the burn was normal as were her new instincts. The urge to kill was very strange, when you weren't actually killing that is.

I could go back to her house and pack some clothes and books for her – make it look like she had run away from home. We would have to get rid of her truck, that was probably somewhere near that cliff. I'm sure Rosalie wouldn't mind throwing it in the ocean for me. She hated the monstrosity almost as much as I did. She may not have liked Bella, but she didn't want her dead and agreed that the truck was an accident waiting to happen, one that Rosalie could probably help avoid if she was allowed to tinker with the truck. She wouldn't voice these opinions or offer her assistance, but I had caught her thinking about it on more than one occasion.

Making it look like Bella had run away from home would be a good cover. Thousands of run-away's are never heard from again, either gaining new identities of dying, sad as it is. That would break Charlie heart, but he was a fighter. He would grieve, be angry but eventually be able to get on with his day to day life, even if he never forgot. Bella would be devastated if she new how badly Charlie would react to the news of Bella 'death'. I don't think that she understands just how much he loves her. I remember passing by him just after Bella had decided to move here, and the mans usually foggy thoughts had all but screamed at me. '_She's coming! I can't believe my babies coming home/1 I hope she can be happy here – I know she can't stand this place. I should go talk to Billy about that truck….'_ If only I had known then how annoying that stupid truck would prove to be. How any man could buy that for his daughter, I will never know. If only I knew how special his daughter would become to me, if only I knew not to fight it. I should have listened to Alice all along, though I would never tell her that.

But even that plan had faults. One, I didn't want to leave Bella. Two, Charlie was close to the wolves, of at least the dad of one. I assumed that Jacob Black would be a wolf. He had the same last name as the old chief so it only made sense that he too would transform. The wolves would probably go to the house to see if they could help Charlie (or at least Jacob Black would. The silly pup had always been infatuated with _my_ Bella. ) and they would catch the scent of vampire, but would they know that it was us? Maybe some random vampire came to Forks and went to Bella's house. It could happen, kinda. Bella had a superb scent, even other vampires could see that – or smell that I guess. The chances were high but with Bella being such a danger magnet it could happen.

We wouldn't necessarily have to go to her house to make it look like a run-away. That would just help. We could take the money from her account so that it would look like she had her money and leave it at that – but getting her things would be so much more convincing. Charlie knows that his daughter, like him, is a fighter. He wouldn't think that she would just run away and wouldn't give up easily on her, but eventually he would accept that she just wasn't coming home.

We could pretend that she had drowned. Her truck was near the cliff and there was blood on the rocks. This storm just kept getting bigger so it would just be thought that she couldn't handle the current – if she wanted to.

_And that is entirely your fault._

Shaking my head against the grief that wanted to consume me, I kept cliff dive would be the easiest was and we would spread our scent less. There would only be one or two trails to worry about.

So that would be how Isabella Swan would die. Suicide. Jumping off a cliff.

We would have to tell Esme what had happened and she would be horrified. She would find some way to blame herself, even if this was obviously my fault – that was just her nature. Shaking my head again, I looked more carefully at Bella. There were some changes already, even if it had only been a few hours. Most of her right arm was whiter. Her neck, of course was paler so I assumed that her shoulder and the right side of her upper chest was whiter as well. Probably harder and colder too.

My Angel open her mouth and I could see the pain written over her face and in her eyes, in the way that she help herself. "Bella, love, it's alright to scream, it helps." But I couldn't bare it if she did. How selfish that inwardly I wished that she wouldn't do something that might just help her through pain that I had inflicted, in more was than one. "I'm so sorry." She'd never know how sorry I was.

"Edward" Her beautiful, mumbled voice spoke to me. My eyes snapped open (how do I keep closing them without realizing?) and my mouth opened in shock.

"Err…umm…..Bella? Did you… did you just? Speak. Did you just speak or am I going insane, again." Only this girl could get me to stammer, did she have any idea how great her effect on me was? But still, she spoke. Going through a vampire change and the woman speaks. How did she do _that_?

"Wolves back, you broke…."

"The treaty?" I could see how much talking hurt her. She must be trying not to scream.

Her returning nod was small, but any movement made by her attracted my eyes..

"Yer, I know but that doesn't matter, we can deal with that later. We will have to leave town, probably never come back. If you want, we can say that somebody else changed you and we found each other again." I couldn't resist touching her, and her cheek was so close. I wondered if she could see the adoration in my eyes. "We can figure something out. The others will be here soon and they probably have some ideas."

She looked confused.

"Later?"

"Yer, after the change is complete and it's easier to think." Would I go with them when they left, or would I be on my own again? Without anyone – without Bella. The thought was painful and Bella had enough of that going on. I cleared my face and prepared myself for the worst, but not expecting her almost immediate wail.

"Bella, Bella!" My hands flew back to her face and she appeared to get better. Throwing her a look of pure concern (I couldn't stand that look on her face, and the scream just came from nowhere, she hadn't even been whimpering.)

"Yer, later. After you change, when you're a new born, your thirst is really strong, control is very difficult but it's harder when you're on your own. I think that you should come with me and my family to – wherever we go. I think there all living in Ithaca but don't know if they are planning to stay there. I know that they all miss you and that they can't wait to see you, and that they would be more than happy to take you in, permanently even, if that was what you wanted. If your not, erm, comfortable around me when you wake, than I could leave for a while." I couldn't let her see the pain that that caused me, the thought of being away from her again.

_But, _Ireminded myself_, you're not letting go this time. You won't let go. You will come back and she has to know that._

"But I would come back," My head rose to look her in the eye. "I let you go once and that proved absolutely pointless, what I didn't want to happen I realized wasn't so bad, and then he happened anyway – by my hand no less. The whole separation was a complete waste of time, time I _could_ have spent with you. Can't believe I was so naive in the first place." What was I thinking and _why_ couldn't I have listened to her about my soul. Why hadn't I taken everyone else's advice and why couldn't I have made my new revelation before I left – I wasted so much precious time that I could have had with human Bella. I looked back in her eyes to memorize the exact colour; I wanted to be sure that I had it right. I made sure to breathe through my nose, so that I could capture her scent, I didn't want it to change – even if it had to in order for her to be with me forever. I listened to her heart beat, thumping away in her chest, getting ever closer to its final beat.

Bella's eyes turned away from my own and looked at the phone, on the table next to the television. It took me a moment to realize that it was ringing, because I was concentrating so hard on her heart beat.

I raced over and picked up the phone, Thanking God that it ws cordless, desperate to get back to Bella. "Hello?"

"Edward, we'll be there in a few hours but how is she? How are you?" Carlisle's anxious voice was getting playful. "How did you handle the whole undressing her thing?" I could hear the laughter of the rest of our family in the background..

"Thankyou Alice." More laughter.

"Bella is doing alright, she's only screamed a few times and hasn't thrashed or anything as far as I've seen. But it is amazing. She can control her voice enough to stop her whimpers and she can control her actions, her movements. Well at least she could I don't know if she still," She raised her un-infected hand again, to touch me cheek, giving me the answer I hadn't known that I so desperately wanted. "Oh yer, she can still control her movements. You have to be careful on your way here, The wolves are back in La Push and they probably caught me scent. Did Alice tell you what happened?"

"No, we just know that there was an accident." Carlisle replied.

"Well, yer," I could not tell them this over the phone, the people on the plane would probably have heart attacks from their reactions. I can imagine the crying and screaming and yelling and blame and I was not looking forward to that. "The accident happened in La Push, so I had to cross the border, break the treaty. I smelt wolf and I don't know if they caught my scent, it's raining really hard now, my scent could have washed away. We'll have to leave the area very very soon, either before the change finishes or just after she's hunted, we will have to drive in the night, so that not that many people are out, and we will take as many deserted roads as possible, or we can try and run to Alaska or Canada. What do you think?"

"The wolves! Their back? But I thought that they all died, that the gene wasn't there anymore. Alice, did you see this?"

There was a slight pause but the Carlisle continued. "Alright well we will have a think about it and then call you back later. We will be landing in a few hours so we will call you when we land. We'll get bigger cars incase we need to drive anywhere."

"Thankyou Carlisle, I'll see you all soon." And then I hung up

"See, everything will be fine, no need to worry." I told Bella soothingly, stroking her cheeks and hair softly, smiling adoringly at her.

"Alright." She nodded, and then lapsed back to being quiet while I continued to stroke her face and hair, running my fingers across her still soft lips and memorizing her scent, her heart beat, and her still somewhat human features.

Her head was still bandaged in my t-shirt, but the smell of fresh blood had gone stale, meaning that she was no longer bleeding. I went upstairs momentarily and got another two hand towels, racing back to the kitchen and grabbing a small bowl, filling it with water and racing back to Bella.

I pulled of the bandage and her eyes slowly opened, looking at=t the bowl, and then me, with confusion.

"I went and got them quickly while your eyes where closed, sorry but we can't have the smell of blood in the house with everyone else coming back." My voice darkened with the reminder of what had happened last time blood was spilt, in this very living room none the less. She nodded and allowed me to wash away the dried blood in her hair and on her forehead. I liked this, being able to take care of the woman I loved.

Just hope she still needs me when she's, strong and indestructible. Surely then she will realize how much better than me she is, and how much more that she deserves.

Bella clamped her mouth shut again but kept her eyes focused intently on me. They were shining with unleashed tears, probably the last tears she would ever shed. I put the towel back in the basin and stroked her cheeks again. I just couldn't keep my hands off of her.

"It's alright to cry, love. You probably won't get another chance soon. You may not like the tears now, but you'll miss them later, when you can't shed them anymore." I cooed, and that was all it took for the flood gates to open. She wasn't over dramatic about it. She did it in true Bella fashion. The tears made silent trails across her cheeks and dropped onto my hand, which I had placed just under her face. The salty little drops of water splashed onto my hand and I didn't even bother trying to wipe her tears away, not just yet. Insane as this sounds, she would miss the sensation of having them on her face.

She pulled herself together after a while, shaking her head and closing her eyes. The venom hadn't reached her head yet, if she could still cry. Warning her why and what I was about t attempt, I loosened her arms from her torso, and pulled her shirt up, just a bit. Her stomach was pale and hard and cold, her normal skin tone coming back just above her waist. I now understood why she had chosen then to cry. The stomach was one of the most painful parts of the change, after her head and then her heart.

I had no idea what the time was, but it was dark out. Iwas starting to wish that we hadn't turned everything off at the wall when we moved, when I heard cars roaring down the driveway. Undoubtedly, Alice was behind the wheel of the first car, the girls drove faster than me. The two cars pulled to a stop just near the door.

"Edward Cullen what did you do to my front door!" Esme's scream of outrage could probably be heard on the other side of town, but this I had expected.

Alice answered before I could open my mouth, but her reply wasn't the bit helpful. "You should see Carlisle's office!" She giggled.

"What!" Esme and Carlisle.

"I was in a hurry! And I only broke a phone up there, no big deal!" I defended. "The phone was Alice's fault; she should have waited to call."

"Blaming your problems on other people, I've taught you well, little brother." Emmett boomed his approval and I rolled my eyes.

Alice was next to me, bouncing away, clapping and chanting "Bella! Bella! Bella!" You had to smile at her enthusiasm; even Bella had a slight smile on her face. Alice reached in to awkwardly hug Bella, no couch would get in her way.

"Bells!" Obviously Emmett, but at least he didn't hug her. He simply smiled and plopped down next to me. Alice grabbed the bowl full of the blood and water just as I turned to get it. She winked at me and turned away.

_Jazz wouldn't have done anything, he has gotten much better since we left, even ask Carlisle._

She was getting defensive. I hadn't meant to offend her. Up until then I hadn't even thought about what effect the blood would have on anyone, I just wanted to make Bella more comfortable. Alice saw my explanation and mentally sighed.

_Sorry I am just frustrated that I haven't been able to see to much. She's there but I think she's confused. I see her with us and then running alone. I see us moving and still together twenty years later _

The hope came back full force here.

_But then I see newborn Bella running and coming across a hiker and well,_

_Bella was running, graceful and beautiful as ever, she took a sharp turn and growled. She ran until she reached a hiker, about 40 with a broken leg._

"_Well, hello gorgeous, don't suppose you've got a phone on you, do you? I need to call for some help and – "_

_He never finished his sentence. She was quick and efficient about draining him, but looked so shocked when she'd done. So cover her mouth and backed away, before letting out an earth shattering scream._

_I had that exact vision again, but this time you can catch up with her and she comes home._

And now the hope was just sitting there, unsure of what to do but getting slowly dulled by the shock.

"But would she come back?" The others had entered the room by now and had said their greeting's to Bella and they all turned to me, even Bella moved her eyes towards me, and I kept them locked there.

"I didn't see that far, but something happens to make her go. She's still confused about something – that has her undecided, even if she doesn't know it."

It was very quiet for a moment until Bella's whisper came through. "Me?"

Everyone turned to look at Bella, mouths open and eyes wide. I just smiled.

"I know right? How does she do it?"

Emmett started to laugh at my use of 'I know right?'. Apparently Bella being a modern day teenager has started to rub off on me. Rosalie and Jasper looked impressed, even if he was slowly edging himself towards the stairs. Esme and Carlisle were still in shock and Alice dropped the bowl in the kitchen sink.

"Well, that was unexpected. You can talk while you're going through the change?" Bella nodded at Carlisle, how now looked delighted at an opportunity to gain new information. "Does the change still hurt for you Bella? Is it full out pain or just a sting?"

"It's the same as everyone else Carlisle, excuse me." Jasper responded for Bella, and then dashed up the stairs as fast as his long legs could take him.

Alice ran into the room and pushed me out of the way, breaking my eye contact with Bella.

"What are you undecided about Bella? We want you to stay with us, you're family." Alice finished with her award winning pout and Bella closed her eyes, but Alice jumped up and started to dance. "She got clearer, much clearer! Yay! Jazzy guess what?" And she run up the stairs to find her husband, leaving the rest of us just staring after her. You never fully got used to Alice's mood swings

"So, on the plane we were discussing what to do next and, assuming that Bella will come with us, we decided to move back to Ashland, remember that small town, the one were I you met Esme?" Carlisle turned to me, the smile on his face growing more pronounced with every word. As if I could ever forget Ashland, or the events that took place there. I was so shocked when he brought Esme home, that I cowardly ran away, even if it was only for a day. Of course, Carlisle hadn't met his wife there. No, they had met ten years earlier, when she was only sixteen and had broken her leg falling out of a tree. They had already fallen in love, not as much as they were now obviously, but the feelings were still there. When she had jumped from the cliff and Carlisle had recognized her, he new that he couldn't just let her die. He changed her and they have been together every since, almost. It took them months to tell each other how they felt, even if I did have to meddle just a bit.

We would all drive out of state were Bella, Alice, Jasper, Carlisle and myself would all get out and run to Ashland. Rosalie, Emmett and Esme would all drive back to Port Angeles, drop off the cars and then fly back to Ithaca then get everything shipped over and then fly back to Ashland.

He and Esme left after they explained everything, up to his office or their bedroom or something, and Emmet and Rose followed them. I think they realized that I wasn't going to be much help in making conversation – that I just wanted to be with Bella, who was still just staring into my eyes, as I was her.

She couldn't leave the family. I wouldn't allow she to. I would if leave if it was what she so wished, but she had to stay. It would make her happy and safe, But I wanted to stay with her, I needed to. She was my only reason to live and there was no point being away from her. I cupped her cheeks with my hands and rested my forehead against her own I whispered on word.

"Stay."

Another tear trailed across her cheek and onto my hand She nodded. Small and simple, but it made my world light up.

Alice's victory call could surely be heard over the state border.

_Chapter five will be up sometime this week. Thankyou to all the people who added this story or me to their alerts or_ _favourites, you made my day. Please Review!!_


	5. Chapter 5 Family

_Hey everybody! Thankyou for the story alerts and reviews, but there are no reviews compared to the favorite story alerts ect.. Thankyou to all those how do review and to Carrie who added to my wolf idea and markeriv how made me smile. Sorry for any typo's or things that didn't add up in the last chapter. I was distracted and didn't get time to double edit._

Chapter Five – Family

I was loosing all tract of time. I was sure that none of the others transformations had gone this long, but Alice was ever so kind to remind me that it had only been a day since they had gotten back, and another 41 hours and 18 minutes to go.

There was absolutely nothing to do. Everything that needed to go with us to Ashland was already in Ithaca. Everyone had packed a few extra things, simply because they were bored or would need clothes for Ashland, before everything arrived with trucks. Alice and Esme had been kind enough to pack up all my clothes and CD's. I hadn't taken them last time, I hadn't wanted them. They reminded me to much of Bella. Everybody understood why I wouldn't leave Bella, even if Emmett called me a stubborn little teenager at random times. I didn't care if she hadn't opened her eyes for 20 hours and 29 seconds, 30 seconds; I wouldn't leave her to deal with this alone. Surprisingly, Rosalie was showing much more concern than I thought that she would have. She came into speak to Bella a few hours ago –

"_Hey Edward," Rose stood, looking anxious but determined, in the door way._

"_Hey Rose, everything alright?"_

_She met my gaze and smoothed her face. 'I want to talk to Bella, I'm not going to be mean, I am going to apologies. Plus talking helps, it's distracting.' She didn't bother speaking, she knew that I would be listening._

"_Of course Rose, if that's what you want." I couldn't help some of the shock that leaked into my voice, but she simply rolled her eyes and strode forward, her eyes set on the half-human on the couch. What did she expect from me? Honestly? Last I knew she was jealous of Bella, I don't think she's even directly spoken to her, and she wasn't concerned for Bella when we left, she just didn't want to move again._

_She placed her perfectly manicured hand on Bella's face and ran her fingers through Bella's hair. "Hello Bella," She spoke in a sweet voice, she never used that voice. That scared me. "I know that I haven't exactly been the nicest person to be around, and I know that I was also a bit of – alright, a lot of, - a bitch before, but every family has to have one, right?" She chuckled softly and I snorted, she definitely was the family bitch. I heard Alice's laugh and swear I heard a soft "That's my girl" from Emmett, somewhere upstairs. " I want you to know that I am sorry about that, I was just worried about my family and I thought that you were a risk that we didn't need to take. I didn't understand just how much you and my brother loved each other until we left – and you know who stubborn he is. Plus, I was a little bit jealous of you. So I want you to know that everything is alright and everything will be taken care of. We'll make sure Charlie is alright and everything. I'm glad your going to be staying with us, it will be nice to have my sister back," Bella smiled here and so did Rose. Bella had still been able to move her facial muscles even if she refused to open her eyes and moth. " plus you, me , Alice and Esme need to go shopping when your ready. Now that you're a vampire you defiantly need to start dressing like one." That smile was gone now. _

"_You took my line!" Alice cried, but Esme just laughed he soft laugh and walked through the room with cleaning supplies. She cleans when she is nervous. The morning after Bella's birthday party, the house was spotless. I could see my reflection on the banister of the stairs. Rose just laughed and stood up, mentally reminding me to keep on talking, because it helped._

Emmett and Alice had also spoken to Bella and from the thoughts of the others, they all wanted to speak to her too.

_Emmett, unlike his wife, just came booming into the room, plopping onto the floor next me and simply said "Hey Bells." She didn't reply verbally but her head turned a fraction of an inch, to prove that she was listening._

"_What no verbal reply for me? Am I not important enough to be spoken to. I see how it is! Anyways just wanted to come talk to you, make sure that you still remembered your favorite brother, coz you know I'm better than Jazz,"_

"_You wish Em!"_

"_Don't listen to him, he knows I'm right." His voice became softer and sensitive Emmett was coming out. "I just wanted you to know that everything is alright and that I'm glad you're becoming one of us. I really missed you when we were away – everybody did. I can't wait to teach you how to be a vampire!" Childish and competitive Emmett was coming back. "Oh! You have to let me take you hunting. I know that you will love bear, you even said so. What was it 'nothing like an irritable grizzly?'. Well, you were right. And we have to arm wrestle – even if you're a new born I bet I would still beat you! Well, good luck and I'll see you when you decide that I am important enough to open your eyes for." _

_Then he bounced back up and ran upstairs. Alice was next bouncing down just after Emmett went up._

"_Hey Bella! I told you that you would be one of us sooner or later and I was right. Never bet against me, ever. So you can't complain when I say that were going shopping for your first vampire time alright. I know that you will have fun. You have about 48 hours to go. I doubt that you want exact seconds so I won't bother with that. But I will see you soon alright?" Then she too bounded up the stairs, leaving me alone with Bella. Thank God._

Carlisle ran to me then, checking Bella's vitals and her progress, pleased that it seemed to be happening so quickly.

"Everyone, could you come here for just a minute?"

Within seconds, everyone was in the sitting room. Rosalie and Emmett curled up on the loveseat, Jasper sat on the floor with Alice on his lap. Esme sat in one of the arm chairs and everyone looked at Carlisle, waiting to see why he had called them all.

"We need to discuses what were going to do about Bella."

"But we already decided that she was staying with us, obviously, and we have decided where we are going to move to. What is left to discuss? Emmett, of course, was the first to interrupt.

"We need to think about what were going to do about her parents, and what the town will think. We will have to fake her death but how? Our options are limited with the wolves back. We could go anywhere if they were not here, but we will just have to work round that. What was the accident? If we know that, we could try to work with it."

I shared a look with Alice, who nodded and than I sighed. There was no way that they could never know, even if I wanted there to be. My shoulders were tense and I felt Jasper trying to calm me, and shot him an appreciative smile. Avoiding eye contact, I looked at Bella and started. "Bella jumped off of one of the cliffs at La Push, that is why I had to cross the line. We don't know why she would. She was so strong…" My voice broke again and I had to take a deep breath. "I got to her before she jumped but she was so close to the edge and I didn't want to get to close to her because she may have gotten scared and just…. Fallen."

"Then why didn't you just run up and grab her!" Rosalie screamed. She had jumped up from the couch and raised her hands to the air. "Why didn't you just grab her and she wouldn't have had to have been changed yet! She could have said goodbye!" Everyone else was still to shocked to say anything. They all looked sad and shocked, especially Esme. This I was expecting, what I wasn't expecting was the hint of anger in my mothers eyes.

'_Don't think about that, don't think about that.' _But she couldn't help herself. Images assaulted her mind. Her baby boy, his empty crib. The view from the cliff were she tried to end her own life. The feeling of flying as she let herself fall, that hint of freedom that she so welcomed, after days of pain. ' _No no no! Why did she_ _do this? She was so strong! We caused even more damage than ever imagined. I never should have let this happen. Horrible, horrible person, I must be a curse. Even my own daughter…. And the same way! What have I done!_

_If I could have just – _

_If only we - _

_She shouldn't have ended this way. What happened to my daughter?_

Her thoughts were a mess, jumbling together and totally crazy.

"Mum this wasn't your fault. How could it have been. And curse, are you crazy? Somebody like you couldn't possibly carry a curse. This is my fault. I made us leave and I said those things – you are not to blame for this."

Everyone stared at Esme, mouths open. Carlisle quickly regained composure and picked her up, crushed her to his chest and than sat on the chair she had just been occupying, muttering soothing words to her and stroking her hair while she dry sobbed. "But she could have gotten the idea from my story. I could have prevented this. We could have come back sooner or not have gone at all/"

"Again that is my fault."

"I distracted Alice before she had the vision, if I hadn't she may have seen this sooner and you could have gotten to her in time."

"Esme this isn't your fault, it's kind of all of ours for leaving, Edward's for making us leave ad NOT PULLING HER AWAY! We can't really blame Bella, she was sad and probably alone, she loved us and we left her alone. Now Edward, answer me. Why didn't you pull her away? What, did you just let her jump? You could of just grabbed her!" Rosalie again, and I couldn't even blame her for her accusations.

"I was scared that she would get shocked or scared if I were that close or that she would move and fall anyway. I thought that if I could just talk to her than she would move, but the only response that she made was a sign and them she jumped." My voice was weak and I couldn't even care that I was starting to sob in front of my family, this was my fault and –

"No"

Bella! She hadn't been speaking but she choose the perfect time to intervene. Hr voice was still the same and I focused part of my brain to remembering the exact sound, pitch, volume and words that her voice made.

"Bella?!" All seven of us chorused and moved in closer. My hands were on her cheeks again trying to calm her. Alice was next to me bouncing excitedly with Jasper next to her, his hands on Bella's leg. I never realized how protective he was of her. He truly saw her as a little sister and was glad that she was changing. They could spend more time together now that he didn't want to drain her. Esme was leaning over her head, her elbows propped up on the armrest. Carlisle's arms were wrapped around her waist as he leaned past her to get a good view. Emmett and Rose were towering over the three of us on the floor.

"No, not anyone's fault…. All mine….jumped off the stupid cliff, not you lot. Not suicide. Recreation. Cliff diving. Adrenaline. So sorry….so stupid. Didn't think about rocks or weather. Not mu-Esme's fault didn't get the idea from you. Jake promised. Not Edward – my fault. Thankyou for….talking to me….it help's." Rose grabbed her hand and Bella must have known who it was, because she spoke once more, "nothing to forgive, sister." And then fell silent.

We all just stared a her until Rose sobbed, bringing her other hand up to cover her mouth. Then we erupted.

"Cliff diving!" – Emmett.

"Are you crazy?" – Jasper.

"But you were smiling as you jumped!" – Alice.

"Wait, so you didn't want to die?" – Carlisle.

"Couldn't you have found something less dangerous to do darling!?" – Esme.

"Why!?" – Me.

Rose just kept on sobbing.

Their thoughts were a mess.

_Why would she go cliff diving by herself? She's not strong enough for that! And there's a storm coming. Why didn't this guy keep his promise? I'll show him what happens when you mess with my baby sister! Cliff diving! I'd be proud if this wasn't so stupid_

_Why would she do that to herself? There had to be more than an adrenaline hit. Besides, since when has Bella been an adrenaline seeker? Never figured her the type._

_But she was smiling! SMILING! I don't understand! And even as she jumped! Content! Smiling! Why was she smiling?!_

_I can not imagine Bella doing something that reckless unless she had a better reason than that she wanted adrenaline. She is so responsible, that just does not make sense._

_I still think that this is my fault. But she didn't want to die. Or that is what she says, but maybe she didn't mean to but than thought that dying was a good thing, a better way. She didn't start with my name, she was saying something else…._

_She said I was forgiven – or nothing to forgive. SHE CALLED ME SISTER!!!! But I don't believe that she just wanted adrenaline. That's bullshit._

Who was Jake? What promise did he make and why the hell didn't he follow through? Was she close to him? Were they friends or did she have feelings for him? He had to be important if she mentioned him and his broken promise during her change. Maybe he was meant to be with her on the cliff. Why the hell would she jump off of a cliff for _adrenaline_? That's not my Bella.

_But how do you know that she's yours anymore? Maybe she's Jake's now and maybe she's changed._

No. She agreed to stay here and she made sure to tell me that it wasn't my fault. She tried to comfort me and let me comfort her back. She warned me about the wolves, she wanted me to be safe. She spoke to me first.

But even if she had changed her habits and hobbies, she would still be loving caring Bella that wouldn't want people to be upset or in danger because of her. She was still loving and caring and compassionate and forgiving. That was probably why she had let me hold her and take care of her, I had just been misreading her signals.

'_Seriously Edward, stop being so upset and hopeless. This isn't your fault, you didn't make her go to the cliff. I'm the one that attacked her and made you leave. Besides, she still wants you. You don't have to be empathic to get that.'_

He sent calmness over the room – effectively slowing and un-jumbling everyone's thoughts, which in turn helped me to collect my own.

Maybe I was overreacting about this whole Jake thing. I mean, it's bad that he broke his promise to Bella but just because she mentioned him doesn't mean that she loves him but not me. He probably just had something to do with this whole stupid cliff diving thing. But still, she said his name. He isn't even here. She wouldn't try to blame him for this stunt, that just wasn't Bella, I knew her well enough to know that. I still don't understand why she jumped off the cliff. She says adrenaline but, like Jazz thought, she wasn't an adrenaline junkie. She was shy and hated confrontation or making a fuss, and jumping off of a cliff was definitely making a fuss. Her story just didn't add up. Either way, this was my fault. If she wanted to die, my leaving had probably done that. If she wanted adrenaline, I could have jumped with her or stopped her from jumping in the first place. I could have found something different and safer for us to do or maybe, just maybe, she never would have developed this apparent fetish for getting adrenaline if I hadn't left – she never had before.

But there was no point in living in the past. What had happened, happened and there was no way that I could change that. Bella had jumped and now she was changing, she would become a vampire and there was no stopping it. We just had to work with what was going on.

Everyone seemed to be calming down now, and Rosalie's sobbing had stopped. They all still had some incredibility and confusion swimming around in their thoughts, but they were moving on.

"So what are we going to do about Bella's 'death'? What are we going to tell everyone?" Jasper broke the contemplative silence.

"well I was thinking about that, and after coming up with a few idea's, honestly I think that the easiest and safest way to go is to just say that she died jumping off the cliff. That way we don't need to move her truck, we don't need to make any false paths, we don't need to organize anything. There will be her trail from her truck up the trail and to the cliff, there might still be….blood…. on the rock and somebody probably knew that she was going to go to La Push. Our trail will not be spread anymore. The wolves will only have my scent and the one trail from were I ran to get her and than ran home, and that probably washed away in all of this rain. I was going to get some of her things from her house, make it look like a runaway, but that would spread my scent and put it back in her house. Her dad is friends with one of the tribal elders, Billy Black, and I think his son may be a wolf. I think that he is the old chief's grandson or something. They would probably go to Charlie's house to comfort him and catch my scent and we may not be out of town when they do." I explained my reasoning to them, and they nodded their agreement, or muttered encouraging things like 'yer that's good' or 'that could work'. I could see that Carlisle was still worried about the broken treaty and the wolves, but he hadn't said anything about that yet.

"So when will we leave, it will have to be soon right?" Rosalie's voice was hesitant and come out in a questioning manner, something unusual for Rose. She was blocking her thoughts from me so I couldn't see what was bothering her.

"I think that we should go after her first hunt. It will probably be night then and we can get away unnoticed."

"That would be best. I can see that she won't have any troubles going through the towns. She gets a bit restless in Port Angeles and in a few other places, but nothing to bad which, weird." Alice trailed off. A newborn vampire that could control herself around a heavily populated area? That just didn't make sense. I had suspected that we would have to restrain her whenever we went through the cities.

Carlisle voiced my thoughts aloud. "That's incredible; she should be out of control."

"Maybe that's her gift, some sort of control of her thirst. Or maybe it was something to do with her aversion to blood, that could be her trait that she passed on." Really, anything was possible with my Bella.

"Yer but a simple aversion to blood wouldn't make it so she didn't have new born years. Is that even possible?" Rosalie was having difficulty coming to terms with this, which was odd considering that she was the fastest to overcome the thirst. "I mean, why would she have a gift that would take away one of the most defining points of being a vampire?"

"Well anything is possible. I met a vampire during my time with the Volturi that had the ability to change his appearance, and were obviously not meant to change the way we look, we are frozen like this." Everyone was stunned by this revelation, it was something that Carlisle had never shared with us before. I was interested about the Volturi but I didn't think that it would be a good idea to go and visit them anytime soon. They probably would not be happy that I had told human Bella about us, and then left her. But there were so many interesting things that happened there, so many interesting people that went there. Unfortunately, they also seemed like very controlling and cruel people. They just weren't worth the risk. I could always learn from Carlisle.

"Nahh, I think Bella will have a different power, it would have something to do with her mind, ya'know, with Edward not being able to read her mind a everything. Unless there really is just something wrong with her head." Emmett chuckled.

"Interesting," Carlisle was always delighted at getting new information, and obviously Bella's post-transformation power isn't anything he had ever thought of.

"Wait so you don't think that I will be able to read her mind after she wakes up?"

"Maybe not. Emmett's right, your inability to read her thoughts could very well become her power, or part of it. I doubt that a simple oddity in her brain would close off her thoughts from you, and if there was something wrong with her head, it probably would effect her in another way."

"What about her clumsiness? That was always over the top." Emmett just had to take a jab at her clumsiness, didn't her? Rosalie took care of him for me, slapping him _hard_ against his head.

"Have you seen anything Alice, about what power she will have?" Carlisle always did a good job of ignoring Emmett

"Of course I have, I saw it months ago, before we left even. But I am not going to tell anyone. It is a surprise and that is how I plan to keep it." That little pixie just can't keep that smirk off her face.

Carlisle sighed, "Can you at least tell us if you have any visions. Will everything be alright with the wolves? Will they interrupt us while we are running?"

"I think so…." Alice's eyes went glossy, she was having a vision.

_Emmett was driving in a hummer, with Rose in the passenger seat and Jasper and Alice in the back._

"_How much longer?" Emmett whined._

"_Not to long now, only 47 minutes."_

_Alice turned her head and looked at the car behind her, a sleek black civic. Carlisle could be seen in the front seat, chuckling, with Esme next to him with a grin on her face. Bella and I could be seen on the backseat leaning on each other, Bella was clutching her sides in laughter._

_That one's new, wonder what they were laughing at? But my vision before, at the airport, that can't still happen, the plans changed in the car._

_We were all running together with bags on our backs, hand in hand with our mates, all except Alice, who was jumping all over the place, practically dancing through the forest while Jazz tried to catch her. He almost had her but then he fell over?_

I roared with laughter while Alice giggled from her perch across from me.

"Sadly, that one won't happen anymore, maybe. Things have changed from then."

_Bella and I were running hand in hand, and Bella started to laugh. I looked over at her and smiled, raising her hand to place a kiss on it. Carlisle was behind us smiling at our intwined hands and Jazz and Alice were still dancing around. Alice jumped on to a tree root and Jazz went to catch her, but she jumped away just in time, and he fell on his face._

"Yes!" Alice screamed, jumping all over the place and laughing, Jasper just looked confused and that just made me and Alice laugh even more.

"Everything will be fine Carlisle. I haven't seen the wolves, but they probably haven't caught the scent yet."

"Alright then. So now we jut….wait." He sighed, running his fingers through his hair.

* * *

I told Bella everything. I don't care that she probably couldn't hear me, I just had to tell her I told her about how hard leaving her was, and why I did it. I told her how I was useless, that I jus sat curled up on a ball all day, doing nothing. I told her about tracking Victoria and how eventually I had given up. I had come back to see her and found her on the cliff face. I told her that I spoke to her but that she didn't respond, and how that made me scared. I told her that I loved her and that I needed her to stay with me. I told her that I was sorry.

Esme came in to the room then, saying that she wanted to speak to Bella. I smiled at her and nodded while she came and sat next to me, still on the floor, and put her arm around my shoulder. I welcomed her embrace, relaxing my muscles and leaning into her side. She started to stroke Bella's hair and smiled slightly.

"Do you know how much longer she has?"

"No, I've lost track of the time, I don't even know how long it's been."

" Twenty-one hours and forty eight minutes to go." Alice told us excitedly as she danced past the door way, a disgruntled and distressed looking Jasper following her, simply muttering a "Yes dear." to whatever his wife was rambling on about and casting a pity-filled glance at Bella. I felt his calming waves spread through the room, getting stronger the closer they got to Bella.

"Thankyou Jazz." Shot him a grateful smile, and he returned with a wary smile of his own.

"She hasn't got to long then." Esme mused from my side

"Yer, not long. I hope she is alright with all of this."

"She will be dear, I am sure of it." I shot her another grateful smile. I seem to be sending those a lot lately.

"Bella," Esme spoke softly, as if she was afraid to wake a sleeping child. " I know that your probably scared but you know that we will take care of you, and everything is going to be alright. You truly are like my daughter and there is no way that I am letting a pack of dogs hurt my child." She sneered the word dogs and her voice became fiercely protective towards the end. I was shocked to hear Esme speak like that. She was usually she nice and quite, but to here her insult anything ( even if they deserve it ) was strange. They hadn't even done anything yet. Esme wasn't usually one to be angry unless there was a really good reason. Her voice was soft and calm and smooth when she spoke again. "I can't wait to see you again dear, we all missed you." And with that, she got up and left.

I could hear Jasper making his way through the kitchen and into the living room. It appeared that everyone wanted to talk to Bella. They must be taking Rosalie's advice rather seriously. But then again, so had I. It was wonderful to know how much my family cared about Bella. I had always known that they loved her but it wasn't until after we had left that I realized _just how much_ they loved her. She was as vital to the survival of our family as Alice or Esme – we just weren't the same unless we were all together, or a least knew that we would be sometime soon. She was the little sister that Jazz and Emmett always wanted, they could protect her from everything while she was human and needed their help, and being the youngest they would be able to protect her from herself and guide her into this new life. She was the daughter that Esme and Carlisle couldn't have. They had been able to look after her and she had given Esme a chance to be a mother to a human that she could cook, clean and care for. She was the best friend that Alice couldn't remember and I have no doubt that she will become the female companion that Rosalie desperately craves, but just won't admit it. She was family.

Jasper entered the room with a strained but determined look on his face. He, just like the others, sat next to me and placed his hand on top of her own. He pushed calm and serenity into her like there was no tomorrow and she visibly relaxed, as did I and probably the rest of the people in a five mile radius.

"Hey Bella," His southern accent was coming on really strong and I doubt that he was even trying to cover it up. "I want you to know that I am really sorry for what happened n your birthday, I never got the chance to tell you that. I can understand why you wouldn't forgive me for that but I'm gunna try and make that up to you, alright? I know that we never spent much time together but you're still like family to me. I know that you understand why I never spent much time 'round you but I still know that it hurt you, even if you tried to hide it. On the plus side, son you won't have a pulse so I won't have to worry to much about killing you anymore, and that'll be nice." He inserted a chuckle here. "It will be good to get to know my little sister a bit better. Me and Em want to teach you how to fight after we move, it's the one thing were both really good at and you should know how to protect yourself." He said with a firm nod, his thoughts simply saying '_not that she'll need to, we won't let her deal with other vampires alone – but it is best to be safe.' _I don't think I like the idea of telling her that. She was probably scared enough and she hated violence almost as much as Carlisle did. Learning how to fight probably wouldn't be first on her list of 'to-do's'. "We'll see you when you wake up Bella." He all but whispered the last part, but instead of leaving, he turned so that he was leaning on the couch but so that his hand was still on top of hers and closed his eyes, still spreading calm onto her.

Carlisle came down the stairs, mulling over a conversation that he had just had with Esme. He wasn't think directly about the words that she had said so I couldn't understand, and it seemed that that was what Carlisle wanted. He came in and checked Bella's vitals, nodding in satisfaction and smiling at me.

'_Not to long son'_

He sat on my other side and stared at Bella's face.

'_She's such a wonderful girl. So sweet and kind. It's a pity that she had to be changed this way, she probably would have liked to get to say goodbye to her family first, experience more human things. I guess that Alice's vision won't happen now, wait, Edward are you listening?'_

"Yer, what vision are you talking about? What did Alice see that isn't going to happen? Do you mean the one were Jasper falls over?"

They both looked at me like I was crazy, until understanding dawned on Carlisle's face and he grinned.

"What?" Jasper asked confused.

"She showed you the one from the airport?"

"Yer, but I am assuming that you are not talking about one?"

"Wait why am I falling over? Vampires do not fall over!" Jasper was still confused.

"Well obviously you do, maybe Bella's power will be to extend her clumsiness, and you just got in her way." Emmett commented as he strolled past the door, breaking into a sprint after he had spoken, trying to make sure that Jasper couldn't catch him – even though Jasper hadn't moved.

"Aren't you going to go after him?" I asked confused. He always went after Emmett after he had said something insulting. Even Carlisle looked confused.

"Nah couldn't be bothered, plus I have more important things to do." He waved a lazy hand toward Bella, then his eyes widened and he looked at her concerned.

"What, what is it? Can you sense something?" I exclaimed, it took all my restraint not to take him by the shoulders and shake him.

"No no, just wondering….you don't think that that could actually be her gift do you? I mean she is _really_ clumsy and if Alice sees me tripping, does she make me do it, you saw the vision, what happened?"

I laughed, actually laughed. "No it wasn't Bella's fault you just tripped, it was really funny." He just scowled and looked away.

"So wht vision?" I looked back to Carlisle.

'_I should just tell him, it won't happen now anyway. But Alice said not to say. But it's still bound to happen, just not while she's human. Oh just go ask Alice!'_

"Alice!"

"Yes Edward?" Her expression was of ure innocence, to innocent.

"What vision is Carlisle talking about?"

She looked at him "Is this the one that you were discussing with Esme, just a minute ago?"

He nodded at her, shooting glances at me from the side of his eye. She nodded back at him and turned back to me, smiled brightly and shook her head, no, then turned around.

"Sorry Edward and don't think about the vision Carlisle!"

I started after her, mouth open. This way my future! I deserved to know. When I told her so she just rolled her eyes and thought _'whatever you already knew you were going to do it one day anyway, you had already thought about it and planned on doing it. You just kept putting it off….and then we left.'_

What was she talking about? I kept putting it off?

"Alice what vision did I fall over in? Why didn't you tell me?" Jasper sounded offended, he obviously already knew what this vision that I wasn't allowed to know about was.

"I'll tell you the falling over vision if you tell me yours?"

"You were just running and then fell over a branch Jazzy, no big deal. It is why I pointed and laughed at you at the airport." Then she ran away, leaving her husband sitting on the floor, pouting like a child – amusing since he was over 6 feet tall. What a supporting wife. Wait, wife-?

"Well anyway, I wanted to talk to Bella too." Carlisle smiled at me and then turned to Bella. "Bella, I wanted to Thankyou, again, for all that you have done for me and my family. You bought my son back to life and you gave my wife a chance to be a real mother. You have completed the family in ways that we didn't even know that we needed. He leaned closer to her, as if he were telling her a secret. "We all missed you while we were away, and none of us intend to put a permanent separation between any of us ever again. I can't wait until you wake up, and I know Alice is really desperate to have her best friend back. Hopefully, we'll be able to hold onto you forever now, there aren't anymore bridges we have to cross. We'll see you soon." He kissed her forehead and then got up and started to walk away. He stopped when he got to the first step of the staircase and turned to look at me.

'_We made her a necklace wit the crest on it. I had it made before we left – we had intended to give it to he for her birthday. Only Esme and I knew, well, Alice probably did too. I want to give it to her once we are all settled in Ashland, if that's alright with you.'_

"Of course Carlisle. I am sure that she would be honored. She always saw us as family.

* * *

I was almost completely sure that time was slowing. This was the slowest 21 hours of my existence. Fortunately, Bella only had 17 minutes left. Unfortunately, I thought that I would go insane if she didn't open her eyes now. I still hadn't moved from my spot next to Bella, and she hadn't moved or spoken or even smiled since her conversation about the ever controversial cliff dive. Alice had just skipped in and sat next to me, and told me that Bella only had seventeen minutes left. Seventeen infuriatingly long minutes until her heart beat stopped and she opened her eyes, well until her heart stopped, she wouldn't open her eyes for eighteen minutes. I just sat there, staring at her wondering how everything could be so good and right yet so completely messed up at the same time. I had Bella back, but I didn't know if she wanted me. I've been told that she still wants me, but she said another man's name whilst trying to explain what she had done – so she may not love me anymore. I had her forever but I still didn't know if I _actually _had her, again, if she actually wanted me. She said that she would stay, but I didn't know if she wanted me to stay.

See, messed up but right.

Jasper had continuously told me to stop moping and that he didn't need to be Alice to know that everything would be alright, but he had stopped trying to make me calm hours ago. He had to leave every now and again because Bella's pain would get to much. He would leave for an hour and then come back for an hour, trying to lessen her pain and make things better. About the fourth time that he had come in, he had thought about when newborns had been changed when he was with Maria, that he hadn't been able to stay in the same house, only came back for the end f the third day so that he could deal with them when they woke up. I guess determination really does get you places.

Bella moaned and my head snapped to her. That was the first noise that she had made in hours, and I was delighted to hear her voice again, even if it was different.

"Five minutes." Had that much time already passed? At least things were speeding up. Bella's heart was pounding and that was a sure sign that the change was almost through. Bella's features had changed, but not dramatically. Her features were more angular – her nose straighter, more pronounced cheek bones and a more pointed chin. Her hair was longer, just a bit, it was softer and shiner, deeper in colour. Her eyes were still round and doe-like, though the colour would never be the same again – no contacts could rival that particular brown.

Everyone had gathered in the sitting room by now. They were all standing on the opposite end of the couch to were Bella's head was, with the exception of Alice, who was sitting next to, just bouncing and smiling away. How she could be so calm about this was amazing. Alright, so she wasn't calm but was wasn't worried of uncertain like I was. I guess that seeing the future helps.

"One minute" Alice squeeled, so high pitched that Emmett and I had to cover our eyes. Jasper just sighed and rolled his eyes with a slight smile playing on his lips.

Bella's heart was gong faster and faster – too fast. She was so close and all of those last minute uncertineties came ruching through my mind.

What if she didn't want this anymore?

What if I had done the wrong thing?

What if she didn't want me anymore?

What if she didn't remember?

What if she couldn't stand this eistance?

But then her heart stopped.

Hope you enjoted this chapter, the next one should be up soon. Just a heads up - I'm from Australia so I have no idea how long it would take to get from Forks to Ashland, I am simply relying on google and google maps. Reviwes are like cookies - and everybody loves cookies :)


	6. Chapter 6 Waking Up

_Hey, sorry that it took so long for me to update, I was destracted. I hope to finish the next chapter soon. Thankyou for your reviews on chapter five. Apologies for any typos apparently spell-check doesn't like me. Enjoy - - _

_Previously - - _But then her heart stopped.

She sucked in a huge gasp and her eyebrows shot up. Her head turned slightly in my direction and a slight smile lit up her face. That was a good sign, right? My hand raised slightly to brush my hand across her cheek and her eyes shot open, her red orbs gazing into my own.

"Bella." My voice was a sigh and you could hear all my relief in it. She was finally awake! Her face broke into a shocking smile.

"Hey Edward." Her voice, too, was a soft sigh, but her eyes glowed with affection. They sparkled like she would be shedding tears if she could. I smiled in response. She sat up, fast as lightning and threw her stone hard arms around my neck, effectively knocking the breath out of me because she was so much stronger. I was too shocked to respond. She was just too amazing.

She was a newborn, freshly awoken and she seemed to be in a good mood. Newborns were never happy. They were scared and confused and edgy – they don't go around hugging people, not that I minded. But why was she hugging me? I would have thought for sure that I would have to explain everything to her before she even let me touch her. Maybe Rose was right, maybe talking really does help and maybe she could really hear me. If so, that meant that she already knew everything. Had she already forgiven me? Did she still love me? She had to have if she was hugging me! Maybe….

She tensed and it was only that that I realized that I still hadn't wrapped my arms around her yet. Why? No idea, probably just because I am idiot that spends way to much time over thinking everything – even the love of my existence hugging me.

"Sorry." She whispered, and slowly started to unwrap her arms from around my neck.

"No!" I threw my arms around her waist, crushing her to my chest and making sure that she couldn't get away. She tensed again until she rewrapped her arms around my neck, holding on as if her life depended on it. "I am so sorry." I whispered in her ear, kissing that sensitive spot just behind her ear and closing my eyes, breathing in her scent. She shivered, tightening her hold as I did the same. Of course, Alice just had to interrupt.

"Edward I told you not to hog her" She was trying o sound menacing but I could see the twinkle in her eyes and the smile that was threatening to overtake her pixie-like face.

"I don't care." I mumbled, burying my head into Bella's shoulder, smelling her divine hair. I just tightened my hold on her. Bella chuckled, turning her head and looking at the short vampire, a vampire that was now bouncing more violently then ever, she was blurring – the last time this happened Gucci came out with their spring collection, including the dress that "they obviously made for me!"

"Alice!" Bella squeaked, maybe she was excited, maybe I was holding to tight. With a sigh, I loosened my hold on my love and surrender her to Alice, who screamed and threw herself at Bella, effectively making a crashing noise like two boulders being smashed together and causing Bella to stumble back, laughing.

"Bella! I missed you so much! We have so much to catch up on! Oh this is so great and you make such a breathtaking vampire! Not that you weren't beautiful as a human but…wow! Oh were going to have so much fun and you have such a cool gift! We get to do so much with it and it comes in so useful and nobody expected it I mean I wouldn't have even expected it! And your going to stay that's so great!!" Bella just stood there, wide eyed with a loose grip, mouth open.

"I have a gift?"

"Yer and will you please release the girl and tell us what that gift is?"

"Alice giggled and let go, making way for Emmett as he picked Bella up and squeezed her.

"Alright Emmett – breathing not necessary but still enjoyable." Bella laughed breathlessly as she hugged the bear-like man back. He just chuckled, squeezed her again and then set her on her feet. She stumbled slightly and then glared at her feet.

"I am not seriously going to be a clumsy vampire am I, because that is just so unfair!" A completive look crossed her features, which was almost immediately replaced with one of horror. I reached my hand towards her, hoping to sooth her worries when she continued in a shaky voice. "That isn't my gift or anything is it, because that would suck – a lot." We all laughed, even if Bella's was a little breathless.

"See that's what Emmett suggested, but then I thought that might actually be your gift because of some of Alice's visions. But don't worry, I have been assured that your gift has nothing to do with your clumsiness." Jasper smiled at his sister, his southern accent in full force. Bella chewed n her bottom lip for a moment, before she stepped forward to a confused looking Jasper and threw her arms around his neck. He looked shocked for a moment, before tasting her emotions and hugging her back, a lazy smile gracing his features. You know you are way too happy when you start using words like gracing to describe your brother.

"Really sorry bout what happened kid."

"There was never anything to blame you for – what happened wasn't your fault." She gave an easy smile and a one-shouldered shrug. "It only made sense, you were following your instincts and I can't blame you for that. I am the one that got that paper cut-."

"You better not start blaming yourself for this." He pulled back slightly to look her in the eyes and she sighed. He smiled at her again, serious face gone, and let go of her.

'_She really is something Edward.'_

Rosalie didn't sat anything, she simply smiled at Bella and hugged her. They wordlessly embraced for a few moments before Rose pulled back, held Bella by the shoulders and gave her the once over. She nodded her head in satisfaction, her smile growing with only a hint of jealousy swirling around in her mind and then let go, walking to her husband and wrapping her arms around his waist. Next was Esme who, like Rose, silently wrapped her arms around Bella but with a motherly smile playing on her lips. She started talking to her, so quiet that no one but Bella had a hope of hearing her, even if what she was saying was obvious. The whole – "I love you, you're my daughter" thing that just screams Esme. It was so predictable but not one of us would change it. She let go looking like she would cry if she could.

Carlisle stepped up, a peaceful smile on his face as he embraced his would-be daughter.

"Were so glad to have you back Bella." She just laughed and said "It's good to be back.", squeezing him gently and then stepping back.

"So Bella how is your thirst? I would imagine that it is quite painful right now, but we can take you hunting as soon as you want." Carlisle was being polite, as usual, but he desperately wanted to ask Bella about the cliff dive, what had really happened and what had happened whist we were gone. The urge was so strong that he actually had to clamp his jaw closed. Bella tilted her head to the side and threw him a questioning glance, either thinking about her thirst or about his now rather strained facial expression and the emotions swimming about in his eyes.

"The thirst is," swallow "manageable, but it is still defiantly there." Bella had a slight grimace on her face and the guilt flooded me. She probably didn't expect the thirst to be so bad – she probably wished she was back at Charlie's and still living her human life that we weren't in, or more so, that I wasn't in.

"Her thirst isn't actually all that bad, I mean it's worse than any of ours but nothing compared to what newborns are usually like. Maybe we were right about control or aversion being her gift." Jasper looked hopefully at his wife, he had been asking her for hours about what Bella's gift would be, but she hadn't caved yet. She just shook her head and smiled at him sweetly, battering her eyelashes and looking back at Bella.

"Well maybe this is just a perk, like an extra trait that she has brought over. It is quite possible that Bella can have an extended trait as well as a gift ,though there is no denying that it is quite interesting." Carlisle's voice had trailed off and you could practically hear the gears turning in his head.

"So do you want to go hunting yet or do you want to talk about all of this." I gestured vaguely to her and then around the room, grasping her hand in my free one, sighing at the electricity that ran through my hand, up my arm and then through my body, acting like a replacement heartbeat. The feeling had intensified since when she was human. Not that I'm complaining. It let me know that she was there, that she was near me and, when it got this intense, that she was touching me. I could tell that she wanted me to touch her. I just _knew._ I wouldn't feel this if she didn't. We both sighed and leaned slight towards each other, before she composed herself and straightened up. Fortunately she didn't release her grasp on my hand but simply answered, in her new voice. It was clearer, softer yet still slightly higher pitched. It sounded like Bell's. "I think that I would like to hunt, if that is alright?" She looked up at me shyly, from underneath my lashes. My breath caught in my throat from the sight of her. She was beautiful, even more than before. I hadn't thought that possible. I was kidding myself, thinking that she could ever consider taking me back. She was far, far too good for me. She raised her head to look at me more clearly and I realized that I still hadn't answered. Vampire Bella brought out my inner teenager more than human Bella did. Since when do I have delayed reactions?

"No that's fine. I'll take you now."

"Oh can I – "

"No Alice." Her bouncing stopping, replaced with her award winning pout. That wouldn't work on me, not right now. I wanted to have this with Bella and that loveable little pixie was not gong to stop me.

"But you'll let her get her clothes dirty! If I go I'll make sure that she stays clean! Come on I wanna go to." Alice started jumping again. I just tugged on Bella's house and walked out the back glass door, pulling her along behind me. She just giggled and smiled that cute little smile of hers. Alice's protests could still be faintly heard when we made it to the river that separated our house and the forest. Bella just kept on giggling. I let go of her hand so that I could jump the raive, immediately missing the tingiling electricity. I turned around, hearing Bella's fultering foot steps. Her eyes were darting from our side of the river to the othr side and back, looking hesitant and scared.

"Bella?" My use of her name was a question, and she could tell. Her eyes flickered up to mine and then back to the river beds.

"How am I meant to…." She gestured to the two river banks with her pointing finger. "I don't think that I can get over there." She was still hesitant, probably because of her clumsyness.

"Bella your a lot more graceful now. Havn't you realized that you havn't tripped yet?" The patient smile on my face was growing into the crooked smile that I knew she loves. Or at least used to. I wonder if I can still dazel her?

"I can really jump that?" She was still hesitant, biting on that delicious plump bottom lip.

"Defiantly! Watch." I took two steps back, ran forward and jumped, sending me flying over the water and landed with a thump on the opposite side. Turning around, I saw Bella still on the other side. She was smiling now at least. She took four steps back, ran forward and jumped, flying over the water and through the air, landing ten feet in front of me. She turned around and looked at me, shocked, before breaking out into giggles. She clapped her hand over her mouth and used the other to point at the river, still laughing.

"Did you see how far I jumped? That was so cool! Can we do it again? Please!" She was still laughing and had started to bounce. She looked like Alice. I laughed with her, walking forward to put my hand back were it belonged, in hers.

"We can jump over the river all you want but we should hunt first, you must be hurting."

"She grimaced, and I'm sure I did the same. At her nod, I pulled her hand and started to run, slow (for vampires) at first before slowly building up and running almost at full speed – but not as fast as when I was running to her, running home. I don't think could ever reach those speeds again, unless she was hurt. She didn't seem to be having any trouble keeping up with me, but that would probably change after her newborn strength wore off. I looked over at her, and she had a smile on her face that lit up my whole word and made me feel like my heart had started to beat again. We ran together, hand in hand, for what seemed like seconds but still only hours. I couldn't take my eyes off her, even if I tried, even if I wanted to.

"You know, this is much better when you can actually see what's going on."

I had to laugh at that. I can only imagine what it had looked like before, just a blur of green and brown. We ran until I could faintly smell an animal. Just elk, nothing to hard but not to bad for her firs hunt. I started to slow, gently pulling on her hand to tell her that I wanted her to do the same thing. She complied and glanced at me quizzically, that is until she too caught the scent and she stopped abruptly.

"Is that an animal?"

I looked her in the eye and nodded "That is an elk. It smells good now but after you smell and taste some of te other animals, the carnivores, they will not have the same appeal." She just nodded and kept her eyes trained on the spot that the elk was. "Well go, you'll do fine trust me." That was all she needed. Curling her lips back she sprinted into the foliage. I followed at a distance, just incase she wanted my help – plus I wanted to see how she looked when she hunted. Strange but hey, I used to climb into her window and watch her sleep when we were barely on speaking terms.

She ran through the forest as if she were in a race, pushing her slender and athletic legs as fast as they could go, probably faster then me. Once the elk came into view, she crouched and then tackled the animal. The elk was on its back, its legs kicking the air, trying to get her off. That didn't work. She slammed her hand into its face, breaking the beast's neck, and leaned forward to its neck. She sank her razor sharp teeth through its fur, skin and the layer of fat until she reached the blood. When she did, the most sensual moan left her lips, making me have to camp my mouth shut to keep from emitting my own.

Up until now, I had never understood why the other mated couples in my family had found watching their mates hunt enjoyable. Their thoughts were always clouded with lust whenever they saw it and I usually had to leave hearing range (both kinds) until they had finished with their 'together time'. That had seemed kind of creepy and….disturbing. They were getting turned on by seeing their love kill an animal. That had just seemed wrong to me. I now take everything I ever thought back. Seeing my Bella drink from the elk's carcass was, by far, the 'hottest' thing I had ever seen. When she'd finished she looked up at me curiously, with her big red doe eyes and tilted her head to the side. "What?" she asked timidly.

It was only then that I realized that I was blatantly staring at her, eyes wide and mouth open. I snapped my mouth shut and un-necessarily cleared my throat. "Ohh, umm nothing you just did..erm.. You were really good." And she was. There was hardly any blood on her clothes and no rips. Her air was messed up and she had blood running from the side of her lip. I wanted to go up and lick it off. I wonder if she would let me.

"Oh, Thankyou." She smiled again. Not timid and shy, but a big smile that took up her face and made my breath catch in my throat, again.

After anther un-necessary throat clearing I said, "We can keep on hunting. There has got to be something better than elk around here, we just have to stay away from the border line."

"The wolves aren't paying attention to the line anymore. They decided to protect me so they were coming into Forks." She explained this in a rush, like it was import that I know this immediately. Which it kind of was. The wolves were not supposed to be on our side of the line. They'd broken the treaty twice now. But they probably weren't on our land anymore. Bella was probably presumed dead by now, and on their land. How am I meant to tell her that?

"Bella they probably aren't on our land anymore. Your truck is near the cliffs at La Push right?" She nodded. "Well you haven't been seen for three days your probably presumed dead on La Push land or abducted. The wolves might have caught your trail from the truck, up the trail and off of the cliff. That is if the rain didn't get rid of the scent. They probably won't come on our land anymore now that they think that you're dead. They may go to your house but they would use a different part of the forest. We should be fine." I tried to reassure her, but she still looked worried.

"Come on," I said, walking up to her and grabbing her hand, helping her to step over the carcass and walking away with her. "let's go get something to eat and then we can go home." And it felt so good to say 'home'. Because we were going to be there together. I wasn't going to let anything change that. It was me and her from now on.


	7. Chapter 7 The Story

_Hey! Thankyou for all the excellent and supportive reviews. They make my day. Hope you enjoy the next chapter and Merry Christmas!_

Chapter Seven - The Story

_Previously - "Come on," I said, walking up to her and grabbing her hand, helping her to step over the carcass and walking away with her. "let's go get something to eat and then we can go home." And it felt so good to say 'home'. Because we were going to be there together. I wasn't going to let anything change that. It was me and her from now on._

We continued to run through the forest together, still hand in hand, looking for more food. I needed to hunt as well, but had refused to leave Bella. Her blood was wearing off and I hadn't hunted in a while in Reo. The thought of her transformation had pushed all thoughts of the thirst from the forefront of my mind. But now that she was awake, now that I knew that she was alright, I could feel the itch growing and it was getting out of control. We ran and ran and I could still only focus on Bella. I think she realized that I was staring; her eyes would occasionally flicker to me from the corner of her eyes. Then she stopped.

"What's wrong?" Had she caught the scent of the wolves?

"Something is over there. It smells good, really good." Her eyes had grown dark as she pointed to the east. I turned my head in that direction and breathed through my nose. She was right – mountain lion. Two of them. This was perfect, she would finally be able to understand what I was talking about all the times I had said that they were my favorite. Turning back to her with a smile I told her "Mountain lion." And watched her face light up in recognition.

"You can have this one, I know it's your favorite." She was smiling. She seemed happy that she had remembered that trivial fact about me. I shook my head and spoke, still with a smile, even if it was now patient and caring instead of excited. "Close your eyes and listen carefully. What do you hear?" She did as I said and a contemplative look crossed

her glorious features.

"That thumping – that's a heart beat isn't it?" She opened one eye to look at me, and I nodded. "Two of them?" I nodded again, my smile growing.

"One each, unless you need two of them." It was possible. She had only had an elk and she had just woken up.

"I think that I'll be fine. If not I can find something else." She had opened her second eye and nodded with her words and then we ran off together. The heartbeats were getting closer and closer and I could feel my animalistic instincts rising. Looking over at Bella, it was obvious that hers were too. She bent to a crouch and sprang on to the lion closest to her. I jumped on the second one, snapping its neck but fighting the instinct to drink. She may need this and I wasn't going to deny her the delicious blood. I needed to stop being so selfish. She moaned again and my reaction was even stronger than last time. She finished and looked up.

"I can tell what you were talking about, that was exquisite." She smiled again and I nodded enthusiastically.

"Exactly! Do you need any more? I caught the other one just incase."

She shook her head. "I'm set for now, you have it." She was still smiling and nodded towards the mountain lion.

I nodded and started to drink. The blood was delicious, it slid down my throat and soothed the itch. The thirst was never gone, but it was more bearable this way, better. The mountain lion blood was rich and thick, better than any other animal by my standards. When the body was drained, I looked up at Bella with a smile, only to be shocked when my eyes met hers. She was wearing an expression similar to the one that I assumed that I wore after watching her 'eat'. Eyes wide, mouth open. Was it possible that I affected her the same way that she affected me? "Bella?"

"What? Erm…yer. What?" She shook her head, closed her eyes and mouth and straitened up. She reopened her eyes and looked at me with a smile, but didn't keep eye contact. "I'm fine, I have just never watched anyone hunt before, obviously. It just….wasn't what I was expecting."

So that was why she had been staring, she didn't enjoy watching me hunt – it was just something that she hadn't seen before. She was probably just curious, shocked and probably scared. "Are you alright?" My voice was hesitant. I didn't want to scare her or repulse her anymore.

"No I'm fine, I just wasn't expecting it to look like that." She smiled again and then looked at the two mountain lions. "Do we have to do anything with these?"

She was, as usual, right.

"Yer were supposed to bury them, just to make sure that nobody stumbles across them. We need to be inconspicuous." Because if you see a dead animal, you immediately think of a vampire. Most of these animals get pretty beat up while were hunting so the humans would just assume that they were in a fight. Plus other animals could eat them. But, Carlisle says to bury them, so that's just what we do. I stepped over the carcass and walked over to her. Kneeling next to the body, I started to dig using my hands. Bella knelt next to me and started to help, but I just folded my arms and looked at her skeptically, raising an eyebrow. I got a scowl for that.

"What?"

"Just let me do this, you don't have to dig the hole. Let me." Seeing her still questioning glare "Please?"

She folder her arms and sat on the ground next to me, huffing. "Fine."

"Good girl." I laughed, knowing her reaction to being spoken to like a child would be well worth it. I was not disappointed. Her head snapped towards me and her mouth fell open. Her eyes narrowed and she closed her mouth. "Oh you did not!"

I just laughed. The hole was dug and I stood up, gently kicking the carcass so it rolled in then went a picked up my own, slinging it over my shoulder and then throwing it in with the other. I went to fill it back up, but Bella had beaten me two it. Unfortunately she hadn't had practice, or maybe it was just from her hunting and I hadn't realized it yet. Looking her over, I had to laugh. Her hair was wild with leaves and twigs all over it. She had blood and dirt all over her pants and shirt. The shirt was also ripped up. Luckily it still covered what needed to be – I couldn't handle that again. Not yet.

"What?" She looked so confused, it was adorable. Then she looked over herself. "Oh." She shot me a sheepish smile and I knew that she would be blushing if she still could. She stood up and attempted to straighten her clothing. She raised her hand to her head and tried to run it through her hair, groaning. I just laughed harder. I hadn't felt this happy in months – though it felt like centuries.

"Do you know how much effort I went to too get you into that shirt?" I tried to be stern but couldn't, I was just laughing to much. She looked embarrassed and slightly mischievous. "It's alright, I was even worse after my first hunt. There was blood everywhere and I actually didn't have a shirt, or much left of my pants for that matter." I chuckled, but her breath caught in her throat and I wondered what I had said wrong. I walked over and raised my hand to meet hers, the one that was still in her hair. I started to pick out the foliage but continued talking, trying to patch up whatever it was that I had said wrong and to make her feel more at peace. "It gets easier with practice. When you get older the instinct gets easier to control. You are able to make sure that you break the animals neck first and that you don't get to dirty. If it falls, you learn to make sure that you land on top. You get neater; sink your teeth in instead of just ripping everything out of your way."

"I hope so. You were so neat and I'm….well….you can see what happened." She laughed nervously.

"It's alright, but Alice's reaction might be a bit different from mine" Alice may not have reused clothes often, but she didn't like ruined clothes. There was likely to be screaming when we returned.

Bella simply groaned but didn't do anything else. She probably already knew what was going to happen.

"Let's go home, I'm sure that they all want to see you. They've missed you so much." I took her hand, basking in the electricity and still unable to wipe that smile off my face, and ran towards the house. It only took about twenty minutes from here, but I wasn't going to waste any time with my Bella – even if we had forever. But what was there to talk about. Pretty much everything I wanted to ask her either the whole family wanted to know about, or it would take a long time to talk about. And my family (Alice and Emmett) could be extremely impatient. They would not appreciate us sitting in the forest talking for hours on end. I could ask her about why the wolves were protecting her. That would most likely be an easy enough answer 'they wanted me to be safe' but I would hear her voice.

So I asked her, and I really wish I hadn't.

"There is another vampire, or maybe even vampires, round town. They were protecting me from them." I stopped short.

Other vampires in Forks! How did we not know this? Surely something like Bella being in danger from other vampires would have slipped through Alice, even if she was blocking Bella. She was too attuned to Bella to miss something this big! Wasn't she? Bella had spoken really fast, like she hoped that if she said it fast, I might ignore what she had said or not understand or something. "What?" I was proud of myself. Considering my inner turmoil following this new revelation, my voice was much calmer than I had expected it to be.

"There are, or were at least, other vampires in Forks. It's a long story." She was hesitant again, and that killed me. I didn't want her to be like that with me. She should be able to trust me enough to tell me anything and everything. Maybe she didn't trust me anymore. Maybe she didn't want to confide in me like she used to anymore. She must have seen the pain in my eyes, because her free hand twitched towards me but she just squeezed the hand she was holding. "I just don't want to have to explain everything more then once. I am going to assume that everyone wants to know about the cliff dive?" I nodded, my face going stern. She flinched. "And I guess that I'm going to be asked about the past few months – even if it is just out of curiosity?" Again I nodded, this time confused. Didn't she think that we were interested in what had happened to her? "Well the wolves and the other vampires are involved in all that. I will just tell everyone once as a group." She smiled, but sadness still lingered in her eyes. I hadn't seen it there before, she had seemed fine. I didn't like that, she shouldn't be sad. I pulled her into my embrace and wrapped my arms around, one encircling her waist, the other going up her back and stroking her hair. She returned the hug, wrapping her arms around my neck and holding on tight, just the way I wanted her to. Her hold was reassurance. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all, maybe everything would be alright. "Let's go home." She whispered, and it felt so good to hear her say that. She thought of the house with me and my family as her own, as the place were she belonged. And she couldn't have been more right.

I sighed and mumbled "If we have too." She laughed at me, pulling away from the hug and ignored my pout. That just made her laugh more. I would never get sick of that sound. She grabbed my hand and pointed "This way right?" I nodded and we ran, jumping over the logs and laughing at the freedom of it all. It was the happiest I had been in months.

We reached the house and jumped the river again. Bella giggled and squealed like a little child and didn't even pout when I laughed at her. Scratch what I thought before, this was the happiest I had been in months. I dragged her into the house, through the glass back wall. She looked embarrassed, probably because of her attire. Didn't matter if she was covered in dirt and blood, at least not to me. She was still the most beautiful person I had ever seen. But then I heard Alice scream and I knew that she didn't share my opinion. Alice ran over –

"What did you do! I loved those jeans!" What does that matter? Alice loves all clothes – she probably didn't even remember this particular pair.

"Sorry Alice" Bella didn't put to much effort into her reply, but Emmett found it hilarious. He held his sides in laughter then leaned onto his side. He was slowly sliding off of the couch. Did he realize how stupid he looked? It would be amusing to see him fall off the couch, but I needed to take care of Bella. I started to drag her towards the stairs when I heard a small rip. Bella was looking from her shirt to her hand. There was a chunk of white material in her hand and a huge chunk missing from her shirt. She started muttering about "how am I supposed to get dressed when I can't even pick up the hem of my shirt?"

I leaned towards her to whisper in her ear. "Well maybe I will just have to help you again." So I was flirting, I needed to win my girl back. She stopped walking and opened her mouth in shock, eyebrow rising. I'm surprised that she wasn't looking away all embarrassed and playing with her hands. I smirked and kept on walking up the stairs until she yelled after me "Well maybe I would let you." That stopped me short. I rounded on her, mouth agape. Would she really let me help her? I mean, she would probably rip her clothing whenever she tried to put it on. It wouldn't need to be anything sexual, simply me helping her. But she ran past me laughing and I figured that she was joking - but I would still be more than willing to help.

"That was mean!"

I ran up the stairs after her but stopped when I got to the second floor. She was standing on the first step looking from me to Alice's room.

"I don't know which room to go to." She looked embarrassed.

"I don't know if Alice has your clothes in her room so go up to mine. I think that there are still towels and shampoo in the bathroom so you can take a shower if you want."

She nodded happily and walked up the stairs with me trailing behind her. When we got to my room, I took her hand again and led her to the closet, pulling her towards her draw. She had always been excited that she had a draw in my room, it had made her feel ' like she was an important part of my life'. I had acted all offended and said that she should have already known that she was an important part of my life, that she was my whole life. Now she just looked confused and sad.

"What's wrong?" I used my finger to tilt her head up so that I could look her in the eyes.

"I just always thought that you would have gotten rid of this. I guess I am just surprised to see it." She still seemed sad, so I told her the truth – it had worked so far.

"I could never get rid of anything that tied me to you." We stared into each others eyes for an endless amount of time. The electricity that flowed through our skin was now buzzing in the air, making resisting the urge to kiss her almost impossible, but I don't think that she was ready for that yet. If she was questioning the draw, maybe she wasn't clear on my feelings yet. She looked away, sooner than I would have liked and went to open the draw. She pulled back and bit her plump bottom lip before turning back to me with a slight smile on her face.

"Maybe you should do it."

Chuckling and nodding, I reached for the handle and pulled open the draw. She got jeans, a shirt and undergarments from the draw and then turned to the bathroom.

"I'll wait in my room alight? Call me if you need any help." I winked at her. I can't believe that I actually winked at her.

She looked over her shoulder at me "Alright." Then she walked into the bathroom and almost broke the door knob. Chuckling, I made my way to the couch. Four days ago, if anybody (including Alice) had told me that I would not only return to, but change Bella before the week ended, I would have attacked them, well tried to at least, and then spent a day dry sobbing. Now I could barley keep the smile off my face.

Life's funny like that. Do we control our own fates by our decisions, or is everything already set up for us, is our future already set in stone, beyond what Alice can see? Alice can only see our future when we make up our minds, but sometimes she sees things that never change, things that are unavoidable, but not necessarily bad. She saw Jasper and our family just after she had woken up. She hadn't made a decision to look for any of us, she was just trying to understand. She saw Bella changing, she saw her as one of us, and now she was. Was it possible, that by some strange twist of fate, that Bella was _destined_ to be a vampire? If we made our own destinies, if what happened to us was purely based on our decisions, than, assuming that I had decided not to come back yet, would Bella be dead? If fate was real, like I was starting to believe that it was, but I had decided to delay my arrival, would Bella of somehow survived the cliff dive, or maybe she would have held off her jump, unknowingly waiting until I was in the region, so that I could change her after she had given up.

"Edward?" Bella's gentle voice had awoken me from my stupor. I hadn't realized how long I had been thinking – destiny was confusing. I looked her over. She was gorgeous. Her hair was slightly longer now that it was brushed, and some of her natural red highlights were now permanently there – they didn't look strange but they added to her already blinding beauty. Her eye lashes were darker, like she had on eyeliner and mascara. And those lips, those plump, pink, kissable lips. She had managed to get her clothes on alright, but the shirt she was wearing wasn't the one she had gotten form the draw. The shirt that she had chosen was a light green button up, the one she was now wearing was a long sleeved cotton garment that was _that _shade of blue, her shade of blue. It didn't matter that her once creamy skin was now snowy white, that colour still contrasted perfectly with her. It made her even more beautiful, I couldn't take my eyes away, not that I was trying to.

"I accidentally ripped the other shirt, I just left it in the bathroom – sorry." She gave me a weak smile and I stood up, walking towards her and grabbing her hand. I felt so empty without it.

"It's alright," I smiled reassuringly at her. "If that's the only thing that you break accidentally then it would be a record, nobody expects you to be in control of your strength."

"How long will it take for me to gain control, on average?" She seemed so concerned. Bella had never liked being out of control of anything, especially herself. She liked knowing what was going on and knowing what to expect. Another reason why she didn't like surprises, unfortunately I loved them.

"It should only take a few months, about the time that your eyes will change colour."

She looked at me inquisitively. "What do you mean my eyes change colour, aren't they gold? I fed off an animal."

"Your eyes are red Bella." Her eyes widened. " Not because you killed a human, it's just that your human blood is flowing through your system. It should wear off in about a year, probably less than. That's when your eyes will go gold, assuming that you didn't slip up, and it would be understandable if you did. Your newborn strength will wear off then too, human blood makes us stronger than animal and your own blood makes us even stronger then other people's blood."

"Oh" She gasped. Hadn't we explained this to her. She had seen the nomads from last year, but she new that there eyes were red from human blood. We had never told her that her own blood would remain in her body for energy, maybe she thought it was transformed into venom.

"We never explained that to you did we?"

"No, I thought that they would go straight to gold. I guess it makes sense for them to stay red for awhile."

"Are you…alright?"

"Yer I'm fine, it's just a shock. So my eyes will stay red for a year? Will they gradually go gold or just go gold straight after a hunt?

"They will start to gradually go gold after about six months and then it will take about five months to get completely gold, again assuming that you don't slip up."

"I won't slip up." Her voice was form and laced with a determination that I had only heard a few times. And just then I knew, she wasn't going to kill anyone. Bella's determination was something not to be messed with.

"I know that you won't. I won't let you." I nodded and smiled at her. She seemed to believe me.

"Thankyou. So what do I do with the shirt?"

"Just leave it there, I'll get it later. Do you want to go to talk with the others now?"

She looked hesitant but nodded, biting on that bottom lip. "They're going to ask me questions aren't they?" I nodded.

"But you don't have to talk about anything that you don't want to, we don't even have to go if you don't want to."

"No it's fine, they deserve to know and I would rather just get it over with, you know, like ripping off a band aid."

I gave her a blank look. "No." How did she expect me to know what it was like to rip off a band aid?

"Oh right." She started to giggle, obviously understanding. "Come on, I want to talk to the others." She started to tug me down the stairs and I was still trying to understand what she meant about ripping off the band-aid, so I asked her.

"What did you mean about ripping off a band-aid, what does that feel like?"

"It hurts, but if you do it really fast and all at once it hurts less, as opposed to doing it bit by bit – supposedly." She didn't turn around to look at me, but I could practically hear her rolling her eyes.

"Oh."

We made it to the bottom of the stairs and she was all but tackled by Alice, again.

"Bella! I missed you so much, come sit, I want to know everything that happened." I was amazed that she was somewhat in control of her bouncing. I took her free hand and dragged both myself and my love to the love seat, pushing on our shoulder until we sat and than ran over to sit on Jasper's lap. I took the time to look around the room. The family sat with their respective others around the room, looking intently and expectantly at Bella.

She looked embarrassed and looked over at me. I squeezed her hand and nodded.

"So where do you want me to begin?"

"From after we left, straight after. We want to know everything." Bella barley had time to finish her question before Alice blurted the answer.

Bella stared forward, her eyes trained on a picture on the wall. She seemed determined not to make eye contact with anybody and not to get lost in her memories. Were they really that bad? Had I taken away her last human months without even realizing it?

"After you left, I stupidly tried to follow you" She tried to follow me? How hadn't I realized that. Surely I would have realized, I had managed to separate her footsteps from other humans so I should have been able to hear them in a silent forest. "Eventually night came and I got lost, well, even more lost. After a while, Sam Uley found me. He's from the Quileute reservation and is the Alpha of the wolf pack. He brought me back to Charlie and I was fine." She stopped, casting glances at me from the corner of her eyes.

"What then?" Alice asked impatiently.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Yer nothing. Nothing interesting happened for a long time."

"Well how were you?" The question came from Rosalie. It was still strange to hear her being so nice to Bella.

"Do I have to talk about that?" Her expression was a grimace.

"Yes."

She sighed and started to fiddle with her hand, still casting glances at me from the side of her eyes, before she stared fixedly at the picture on the wall again.

"I was different. I was….empty. The doctors were throwing round words like comatose and Charlie thought that he would have to hospitalize me. He didn't want to be the one to do that, so he called Renee and got her to come and get me. That was only a week after you had left. I hadn't left my room or eaten or anything – I only woke up because Renee had dropped a bowl and the smash startled me. I….threw a fit really. I screamed at them telling them that I wouldn't leave Forks and threw things around the room." This couldn't be happening. She wasn't meant to react like that. She was meant to get over me. Maybe not straight away but it shouldn't have taken that long. I had literally ruined her life. She was in such pain because of me, she was going to be hospitalized. Unconsciously, I raised my hand and started to pull on my hair – a subconscious reaction to stress. I couldn't stand the images that my mind were conjuring. She snapped her head around to look at me and saw the distress in my eyes. She raised her hand and met mine, pulling me away from my hair and holding our hands together in my lap. I gripped on like a lifeline, probably to tight but she didn't say anything, so it must have been alright. I started to feel better, simply because I was touching her, but still not good enough. I doubt that I could even forgive myself for what I had done to her. I should have just stayed away – but than we would never have fallen in love, and I could never regret that. "Eventually she left and I just, pretended to get better. I acted for Charlie but I never fooled him. He was going to send me back to Jacksonville so I went out with Jessica. Not much else happened until I started talking to Jacob Black." The Quileute boy? Was this the Jake that she was talking about before? "We rebuilt motorcycles together and he taught me how to ride them."

"Motorcycles! What were you thinking! Do you have any idea how dangerous they are?" This couldn't get any worse – motorcycles! What was she thinking, more so, what did I make her do?

"Yes I know Edward, that was the point." She had the ghost of a smile on her face, but it was mostly covered with the pain, pain that I had put there. What the hell is wrong with me?

"Anyways, motorcycles got boring and I decided that I wanted to find the meadow again, so I got Jake's help and he mapped routs and trail's that we could follow to try and find the meadow." She was going to share our meadow with someone else? But that was _our _place. It was where we declared out love for each other and I was really me around her for the first time. "But then he stopped talking to me. I was told that he had mono so that was why I didn't go see him. Eventually I just got sick of waiting and went to visit him. He was there with Sam and the 'cult' and he was fine – just taller and more muscular and…. Angrier." Angrier? If he hurt her I would gladly kill him. " He said that we couldn't be friends anymore and that I should blame my ' bloodsuckers. I didn't know how he knew so I just acted obvious and asked him what he meant. After that, we didn't speak for a while but I kept on searching. After awhile, I found it. But then Laurent was there."

"What!" The seven of us chorused

"How didn't I see that? I should have seen something like that."

"This really isn't a big deal – you are all blowing this way out of proportion I mean, nothing even happened." Bella was getting anxious and I didn't understand why.

"Was he still on the animal diet?" Carlisle was curious, apparently Laurent hadn't had very good control when they were in Alaska.

"No."

"Did he try to eat you?" A part of Carlisle didn't want to know.

"Yes."

" And this doesn't count as a big deal!" I was furious. We let him free and he goes and decides to snack on Bella! Why wasn't she upset? She never appreciated it when she was in danger, why couldn't she understand!

"Well obviously he didn't. I told him that you all came back to visit even now and then and that you would know that he had killed me. That didn't work but than the wolves came and saved me." Were the wolves her new hero now? That used to be me.

"But before they could get him, he told me that I was lucky that he was killing me, because Victoria would have made my death a lot more painful."

"What!"

"Victoria!"

"From James's coven?"

"Yer, she was hunting me. She wanted me dead because she thinks that Edward killed James. She thought that mate for mate was much more efficient than killing Edward – she wanted him to suffer. And I couldn't even tell Laurent that we weren't like that anymore because then that would contradict what I had said earlier."

"Bella – "

She looked at me sternly, clearly telling me that this wasn't the time for that conversation. She didn't see herself as my mate then, but did she now? She had to know how I felt. We would have that conversation as soon as this one was finished.

"Anyway, time went on, I figured out what Jake was. He told me that they killed Laurent and that Victoria was here now."

"Wait, she's in this region? Edward did you get her scent?"

I shook my head, stunned. I hadn't even been on the right content….

"She might not be here anymore – apparently she knew just when to escape. But I told Jake that she was after me and he took me to the other wolves. I told them what could help them and then they went to track her. I spent the rest of vacation at La Push on the beach or at…. Sam's fiancé's house. I don't remember her name. Earlier – before Jake was a wolf, we saw people cliff jump and I made him promise to take me. The day I jumped he had promised that we would go, but he called me that morning telling me that they had a new lead and that he couldn't go. But, I decided that I could go on my own. Obviously, I couldn't. I wasn't trying to kill myself – I was just looking for….something to do."

We all sat in silence while Bella looked at our entwined hands, studying them with all of her attention.

"Is she still after you?"

Bella looked at Carlisle "I don't doubt that she still is." He nodded thoughtfully but still looking concerned.

"We should leave now than – we don't want her to be around you."

Bella nodded "The wolves were after her so she probably isn't around anymore, but she will probably come back after she looses them."

Carlisle nodded "Alright then – we leave now." Everyone nodded in agreement and went to stand up.

"What about Charlie? Shouldn't we at least check up on him, drive past his house or the station?"

We all looked at Alice. She looked upset.

"Your right, I can't believe that I was so selfish that I forgot about my own dad." Bella looked distraught as she covered her face with her free hand. I pried her fingers away from her face and than ran my fingers over her perfect cheek.

"Nobody blames you for that Bella. A lot has happened these past three days and we kind of expect you to forget a few things. Charlie probably wasn't what you were thinking about through the change, so he wasn't what you were thinking about when you woke up. Don't be upset with yourself. We hadn't even thought about him. None of us have checked up on him or even driven to town to see how the search is going – we really should have done that." Why was I just thinking of that now? One of us should have gone to check the town – that's what we always did.

"We can drive past the house and the station on our way. Everyone get to the cars – we need to leave now."

We nodded again and followed Carlisle to the cars. The new door had been put up and Esme locked it once we were all in the front yard. Emmett put his hand on Bella's shoulder and gave her a stern but concerned look.

"You really weren't trying to kill yourself."

"No."

He appraised her for a few moments before nodding and smiling "Good, it's so much funnier with you around." Laughing at his own joke, her made his way to the hummer, jumping in the front seat and leaning over to open the door for Rosalie, reaching to grab her hand and then pulling her in, making her giggle in delight. Alice winked at me and hopped in behind Emmett whilst Jasper, after closing his wife's door, ran round to his side and then climbed into the car. I pulled Bella towards the Civic were Esme and Carlisle were already seated and waiting for us.

Carlisle looked over his shoulder at us "So, the house first?"

I looked at Bella as she nodded and we pulled away from the house and towards the highway. The others were behind us as we swiftly made our way through the darkening streets towards Bella's house. Bella was anxious – she was playing with the hem of her shirt using her free hand. I still held the other one tightly – I hadn't let go of her hand yet and I didn't have any intention of letting go. We made it to the end of her street and she stiffened "This is near where I lived isn't it?" She asked me and I nodded. She was already loosing her memories.

"If you try thinking about everything, it will help you remember. She smiled and nodded at me.

"Thankyou. I was wondering why they were going so quickly."

I smiled at her and then turned my attention to the thoughts. Carlisle had slowed dramatically and was now crawling along the road. I let the floodgate open and the thoughts came rushing in.

_Poor Charlie, Isabella was to young, wonder what…._

_Do I put the sage in first or do I let it sit first?...._

_Go! Shoot, shoot!_

_We need to do underwater searchers. The people from Seattle just won't listen properly. She might be alive. Bella, my poor Bella this is my fault!_

"Found him." My voice was a whisper. Charlie shouldn't be blaming himself for what happened. Everything that had transpired was my fault.

"What's going on?" Bella might be loosing her memories of her dad, but she still loved him and was concerned.

"He….he is blaming himself. I think that they know about the cliff. He was thinking about underwater searches." I tried to listen again. He was just thinking about her and how this was his fault. My name was mentioned a bit – and it helped in a strange way that he blamed me too. I went back to the first woman that was thinking about Bella but she had moved on to thinking about her husband and feeding her baby.

"Come on keep driving – we should go to the station. There might be more information there."

We drove to the station in silence while Bella was concentration on what I assumed to be her memories. The little v between her eyes brows was present and, much like when we first started to talk, I wanted to lean over and use my finger to smooth her skin. We pulled up near the parking lot of the station and I could get a good read on everyone's thoughts.

Apparently they had just interviewed their last 'suspect'. Jacob Black. They had spoken to him earlier but this was the final time. They were closing her case just as we had suspected that they would. As far as the human world was concerned, eighteen year old Isabella Marie Swan died from suicide on the La Push cliffs. Charlie had been taken off the case because he had refused to stop searching, even if he knew that she was dead. They had decided to speak to Jacob one last time just because the Chief had wanted them to but had been forced to admit that she was dead.

"They think that you are dead. Suicide at La Push. They are officially closing the case as we speak. The papers are being signed and The Deputy is calling the local paper to tell them. Apparently your story has been mentioned. They are going to do a story on… teen depression." I looked over at Bella and she looked so upset, but there was a strange determination in her eyes. She wanted to make this work. She had gotten her closure and now she wanted to move on. But then here eyes widened and she muttered "Jake." Jacob Black had just walked from the station with an upset expression on his rough face. His head slowly turned to our direction and he looked at our cars curiously.

'_I swear somebody just said my name. Nice car's, you don't get ones like that here. I can't believe that I let Bella die. Did she really want to die or was she just cliff diving? I should have just taken her sooner or not gone on patrol or made sure that someone was there to look after her! Shit this is my fault. I am meant to protect.'_

"We should go, before he see's us. I don't think that he would appreciate seeing any of us – especially me as a vampire." Bella spoke very quietly and urgently, but not quietly enough. Jacob's eyes widened and his mouth started to open and close repeatedly.

He was shocked. And Angry. He was _pissed off_.

"Drive now. Go. Go!" Carlisle sped of and Emmett followed closely.

We reached the town limits before anybody said anything, and even then it was just a phone ringing. Esme reached for her bag and opened her phone. Then she put Rose on speaker.

"What just happened – does the pup know what happened to Bella?"

"He does – I don't know if he plans to follow us. He can't stand the thought of Bella being a vampire and hates me even more because he guessed that I am the one who changed her even if he doesn't know why. He thought that – " How was I meant to tell Bella that her best friend would prefer her dead to being this? "He doesn't want to kill her and he doesn't want the pack to either, but if he has to, he might." I looked at Bella and she looked….distraught. "Bella…." She shook her head.

"If he wants' me dead that's his problem. I had told him that this had been what I had wanted and he got angry. He just doesn't understand. His thoughts on the matter don't bother me anymore. This is what I am and I wouldn't change it." Her words made my day and I before I registered what I was doing I pulled her into a would-be-bone-crushing hug. She laughed (a magical sound that entranced my soul and made my world even brighter if possible.) and hugged me back, wrapping her arms around my neck and looking at my face, seeming to be trying to memories my features. She suddenly stiffened in my arms and pulled back.

"Bella?"

"Oh. Oh! The voices. They hurt. Edward make them stop!"

"Voices? What? Bella!" She had her head in her hands, her elbows resting on her knees.

"Their in my head. Their shouting….oh….please." She was moaning and pulling at her hair. I too heard shouting voices, but I was a mind reader, I had a reason. I was seriously concerned now and I had no idea what was happening. Carlisle was trying to talk to her but that just made her moan more. What was going on? She said they were in her head. It wasn't possible that she could….

"Bella," I put my hands on her wrists and started to pull her hands away from her face. " Bella love, what are the voice saying?"

"I don't know they are all overlapping each other."

"Try and focus on just one. You know Alice's voice, just try and hear Alice's voice and focus on that."

She thought for a moment before saying "She's saying 'Ohh it must be happening now. Should I have told her? My visions were different now. Bella are you concentrating on me? Don't worry Edward, Jasper, Carlisle and I will help you with this.'" I had heard her say that too. Oh shit.

"All of you stop thinking now. Just look at the trees and concentrate on them or try and think of nothing at all please." They all did as I said and she relaxed considerably.

"That's better now." She sighed, then looked at me confused. "What was that? What happened – Alice?" she turned her head around and looked at Alice, who was staring at us through the gaps between Emmett's and Rosalie's seats.

'_That was your power Bella. Edward will help you control it and when you get mine and Jazz's we can help you with that. Carlisle will help you learn how to control the use of your power – so that you can turn the gift off and on.'_

What did she mean? Would Bella get all off our gifts? How!

"How did you say that without moving your mouth?" She was smiling but was clearly confused.

'_I thought it.'_

Bella's mouth dropped open and she stared at Alice. Everyone else was trying so hard not to think. Emmett started to softly chant _trees trees trees _in his head. He really didn't want to make this any harder on his sister than it had to be. He knew how other people's thoughts could affect me and I was practiced in my gift. He couldn't imagine how hard it was going to be for Bella.

"Thought it? But….but I can't read thoughts, that's what Edward does."

'_It's part of your gift.'_

"Part of! What do you mean?"

'_Hold on a second.'_

"Alright." Alice jumped over an extremely confused looking Jasper and then out of the window, ran around the front of her car and opened Bella's door, slipping in and sitting on Bella's lap, before closing the door. Bella was smirking at her. "You could have just thought it."

"Yes but it's funnier this way silly." Alice smiled brightly up at Bella and slid off her lap, pushing Bella closer into my embrace. Not that I was complaining.

"So, according to my visions, you have a very complex gift. Unfortunately, I still don't know why Edward can't read your thoughts – I am guessing that it is just a genetic thing, because Charlie's thoughts were always hard to read for Edward, foggy. But your gift is so cool." She had everybody's full attention and Carlisle was struggling even harder than Emmett to abstain from thinking about what Alice was saying and too just listen to her words. "You have the ability to temporarily copy another person's gift. They have to be in a certain range, though I am not sure what it is yet, and you can get as many of the gifts at one time that you want. As soon as they leave the range you loose their power. You don't have to use the power. I think that when it pops into your range you will get it straight away and you will just instinctively know what it is, but you can block it or…turn it off, if you want to. Carlisle will be able to help you with that."

"So why don't I have yours and Jaspers yet?"

"At first you will have to concentrate on the person who was the gift, but you won't have a way of knowing they have a gift unless you talk to them about it, but with practice the gift will just….happen. After you learn to control Edwards gift or learn to block the mind reading then you can concentrate on me and get my gift, and then Jasper's."

"Oh…kay?"

"So you and Edward work on that and I'll talk to you later." She gave us each a kiss on the cheek and then jumped from the car and back to the hummer. Bella sat thinking for a few moments before turning to me and saying, with a little smile on her face –

"So what do I do?" I smiled back at her and put my hands on her face.

"Close your eyes." She nodded and did as I said. "Alright when the thoughts get to be too much just tell me." Again she nodded. "Alice start thinking, don't direct your thoughts to me or Bella and try not to think her name." Alice's over excited thoughts entered my head and Bella nodded. I let her get used to the sensation of having Alice's thoughts in her head. "Alright Esme, you next." Esme's quiet thoughts came now, and they were filled with nothing but motherly concern. She was having difficulty not to think Bella's name, but when she did Bella turned her head towards her and smiled.

"I'm alright, don't worry." Esme glanced back at us and smiled. I should have paid more attention to her thoughts.

"Emmett." That was a mistake. His thoughts came barging through, harsh and loud. Bella snapped her eyes shut and her forehead creased.

"Oh!"

"Emmett try and calm down, please."

'_Sorry'_ His thoughts were filled with chagrin at bringing Bella discomfort.

"Don't feel bad, I'm just new at this." Bella smiled, even if he couldn't see it. Her words made him feel better and the tenor of his thoughts turned back to the happy feelings that were usually there. It took her longer to get comfortable this time, either because of the amount of thoughts or because the newest thoughts were Emmett's.

One by one the others added thoughts and she was almost comfortable with the sensation, but then we got close to Port Angeles. She clasped her hands over her ears and started moaning.

"Carlisle stop the car, just for a moment, please." He did as I asked, even if he was wary. I put my hands back on the side of Bella's face and tried to calm her.

"Bella, Bella just try to block them all out. Try and shove them all to the back of your head and concentrate on something else. Concentrate on your memories. Try and remember your mum. Think about anything but the thoughts. Concentrate on me." I wanted to be able to help her but I wished that she would rely on _me_like I always did on her. It probably wouldn't work as well for her as it did for me because she could read my thoughts. She nodded and closed her eyes again. She leaned into my chest and wrapped her arms around my torso. I was shocked by the gesture; it had been me initiating the hugs lately but I wasn't complaining about that. Maybe she was starting to trust me again. I put my arms around her and held on tightly. Carlisle started the car and continued to drive, faster than usual. He didn't want Bella to suffer any longer than usual. The closer that we got to the city, the stiffer she became. She buried her face into my neck and took deep breaths, breathing in my scent and boosting my ego. She had to feel _something _for me if she was doing that. I was thinking that this could all work out, better than I had allowed myself to expect. But then the scent of the blood hit her.

_Chapter eight will be up soon - and is it just me or is fanfictions spell - check different from microsoft words?_


	8. Chapter 8 Running

_Hello, Thankyou for all the positive reviews. Just reminding you that I have no idea about American geography and Google doesn't exactly give 'vampire speed' as a type of transportation, so driving and running times are complete guesses to me. Alsom thankyou to Mockingjay0916 and CJ Cullen for their review and comments on spellcheck, much appreiated, I thought that word was broken :) _

_Previously - She had to feel something for me if she was doing that. I was thinking that this could all work out, better than I had allowed myself to expect. But then the scent of the blood hit her _

She stiffened in my arms and a growl ripped through her body. She struggled against me, trying to get out of the car. My grip on her tightened and I forced her to my side. Her struggling stopped minimally but she was still trying to get away.

"Bella, Bella stop."

"Please!" She moaned and it broke my heart to say no. But I had promised her that I wouldn't let her slip and I knew that she would never forgive herself if she were to take a human life.

"Bella they are people. People with life's and families and futures and you _don't _want to be a murder. I promised you that I wouldn't et you and I meant it!" Her struggling decreased again and I knew that I was getting through to her. "Just concentrate on me. Concentrate on my voice and stop breathing." Her struggling stopped as her shoulder stopped moving with her breathing. She turned back to me and wrapped herself around me. Her head was buried against my chest and, from what I had seen, her eyes were clamped shut. She was so gorgeous.

"Why do you say stuff like that?"

"I didn't say anything Bella." I smiled down at her. This whole mindreading thing was going to take some getting used to. Wait, that's not fair! How come Bella can read my mind but I can't read hers!

"Ha-ha." I could feel her smiling against my chest.

_That's not fair Bella, your using my own gift against me and I still can't hear a peep from you. That's cheating._

"Sorry….and how is this cheating? I didn't ask for this gift – I didn't even expect one."

"It just is, don't try to understand the logic." I said, chuckling. She giggled with me, looking up at me through her lashes and making my breath catch in my throat and my mind just….stop.

"Are you alright? You're not thinking?" She looked generally concerned. Didn't she realize that she could dazzle me too. She always had been, I was just better at hiding it.

"Really!" I nodded at her, laughing again.

"This is so not fair!" We spent the rest of the time around the humans talking through my thoughts. She seemed to be able enough to tell the difference between my thoughts and my spoken voice when she wasn't looking at me, and that was a good sign. She didn't even notice when we left city limits and when the smell of human went away. I managed to keep my thoughts free of anything that may lead to the conversation that we desperately needed to have. I made sure not to think _'I love you' _but I'm sure that she could feel it in the tenor of my thoughts. I didn't want to make her uncomfortable. We had started talking about Charlie and I was showing her pictures of him and conversations that she and him had shared, and that I had spied on – either being able to see them or just hear them. We were getting close to the Seattle border when I slipped up. She had been smiling at me and I had missed her smile so much.. I had ran my fingers along her cheek and she had leaned into my touch and that had been all I could take. I simply thought '_I missed you so much, I just need you to – ' _but the shocked look on her face had made me stop. I pulled my hand away and cleared my mind.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to yet, I just – " She put her hand on my cheek and smiled at me.

"It's alright, but we really need to talk about – everything that happened." Sadness flooded her eyes again and she looked away. I didn't like the sadness that was there, especially because it was all my fault. I pulled her into my tight embrace and whispered into her ear. "So sorry, I'm so, so sorry." She nodded against my head and breathed in. She stiffened again because the scent of human was getting strong again. Just concentrate on your memories, concentrate on me." She nodded and closed her eyes again, burying her head in my chest and breathing deep until we got to close to the human population. After we left the city limits I asked her what she remembered of her mother. She started to tell me stories about her childhood and her mother, some that I had heard before but some that were new, to me at least. I told her the stories that she had told me when we first met, but that she seemed to have forgotten. She listened intently and hung off every detail. Her determination to remember was admirable. I had met vampires that actually tried to forget. Esme was one of these, but I couldn't really blame her for trying to forget certain things. Her memories of meeting Carlisle when she was 16 were the clearest. Their quality was surprising, they were hardly murky – much clearer than the usual human memories that I had encountered. It was a good thing that vampires had an untarnished memories, I was able to recall with perfect clarity even story that Bella told me, and that seemed to be help her. She joked about me knowing her past better than she did herself. I didn't think it was strange, she had been the one to tell me all of these things. We were sitting in silence now, when completely out of the blue she said in an accusing tone, "You took me to _prom_!" She narrowed her eyes at me and I cracked up laughing, wrapping my arms around my torso for a completely different reason than I had been doing for the last few months and leaned against her for support. She laughed with me and soon even Esme and Carlisle were laughing quietly along with us.

"The look on your face when you understood where we were going was priceless. You even started crying from anger. I had no idea that your reaction would be so strong.: I managed to choke out between my laughter.

"Well I was angry! I hate surprises and I couldn't dance. And I was in a walking cast – which makes dancing even harder!"

"But I let you dance on my feet, so that helped. Plus you admitted you had a good time and it wasn't even at the end of the night. You had a great prom experience, admit it!"

She just continued laughing and nodded. We kept on talking about trivial things that we had done together – the prom, school, family time – but neither of us mentioned the really vital times of our relationship –the meadow, Port Angeles, her birthday or my leaving. – either because she didn't remember or want to. But either way, I knew that it wasn't time for that conversation yet. Before I could contemplate just how much time had passed, Carlisle was pulling over and getting out of the car. Bella and I grabbed our bags from the boot and went over to meet Emmett and the others. Somewhere along the road they had gotten in front of us, I wasn't sure when though. Esme and Carlisle were saying a private goodbye, unfortunately their thoughts weren't exactly 'pg'. Bella's eyes widened and she looked bashful.

"Welcome to my world." I smiled down at her and she groaned.

"What's wrong?" Emmett hated being left out of the loop, he wasn't much help though, he just laughed and said –

"How are you gunna go when they have sex?"

Bella stiffened and tugged on my hand. "Can we leave the house when that happens if I'm not in control yet? Please?"

"I'll probably leave anyway. Hearing my parental figures, or even siblings having sex isn't exactly my favorite thing to do." She laughed nervously and nodded.

"This is so unfair though," Emmett continued, as though there had been no interruption. "Now we have _two _telepaths – that's bullshit. How are we meant to pull any pranks or tricks or anything? We won't be able to play a lot of games with Bella anymore because she can cheat."

"But I will be able to turn this off." Bella said at the same time I said "I don't cheat!" And I didn't. It's not my fault that I'm a mind reader, and I can't turn it off. It's as a part of me as Emmett's brute strength is. His advantage is as unfair as mine, making us even.

"Course you don't Eddie." I growled at him and Bella and Rose giggled.

"Alright, Rose, Emmett, get back in the hummer, lets go back to Port Angeles now. We don't want to miss our flight." Esme called from the Civic. Rose hugged Bella and myself goodbye, shocking me, and then hopped back in the hummer with Emmett. Esme got in the Civic and they drove away.

"Well, lets get going." Carlisle said with a smile.

We started to sprint into the forest, with me and Bella taking the lead. I had never actually seen her run whilst she was human, and I knew that it was something that she avoided because of her clumsiness, but she must have been quite fast to be able to catch up with me. I had been an exceptional runner as a human, not trying to be boastful. Carlisle was behind us, not to far away. He was smiling at mine and Bella's entwined hands, I still refused to let go. Jasper and Alice were dancing along just to the side and behind of us. I could see in Alice's mind that she was planning this moment perfectly, in order to make sure that her vision played out. Bella shot me a confused look, Alice was making sure not to actually think about the vision, just what she would need to do to make sure that it came true. I smiled and shook my head at her, this would be good. We ran for a few more moments before Jasper made the grand catch for Alice, who expertly danced out of his was, causing him to unexpectedly trip on a tree branch, snapping it and falling flat on his face, into a puddle none the less.

"What the – " Jaspers voice was muffled by the water and could barely be heard over the laughter that was ringing through the forest, Carlisle's lips were pressed firmly together and his hands were fists at his side. Alice, much like me, was holding her sides and leaning against a near by tree. Bella had her hand over her mouth, trying to keep in her giggles. She eventually composed herself and let go of my hand, walking over to Jasper and helping him up, trying not to laugh at his muddied clothes.

"Welcome to my world." She giggled. I grabbed her hand again and continued to run. In total, the trip should only take about two days. I didn't want to wait that long to talk to Bella, but she was a private person and I knew that she wouldn't be happy if I started the conversation in front of the others. So I kept mostly quiet, only talking about trivial things, like her memories and what we were going to do when we got to Ashland. It didn't escape my notice that she never once mentioned our time together, but from the concentrated look on her face when she would lapse into silence for an extended period of time, I liked to think that she was thinking about that time then. I wished that she would speak to me about it, I wanted to help her remember. If she wanted to remember, but I was sure that she did, maybe she was just confused about my feeling, and didn't want to make me uncomfortable by bringing up our past together. Maybe she was afraid that speaking about that would start the conversation that we still hadn't had, and I knew that she wouldn't want to talk about that around the others, but I had already come to that conclusion.

By the time that we got to Ashland, I thought that I would explode. I was desperate to talk to her, to tell her that I loved her and to hopefully, hear it back. We were at the house now, and it was fairly large. My room was opposite one of the spare rooms, the one that I would give to her. Alice and Jasper ran straight to their room. Alice wanted to see what clothes that she had left here, and throw away what she didn't want any more. Jazz wanted to watch her. Carlisle smiled at us and ran up to his office. He was fretting about not having anything to read or study until the moving truck arrived. I ran with Bella up the stairs, stopping outside her door to smile at her, before opening it and ushering her through. She gasped at the size of the room, or the scenery. From the window-wall you could see the forest for miles.

"If you like this view, you might like the one from my room, you can see the forest and the cliffs, and the ocean. If you want, we can swap." I doubt that she would feel comfortable if I offered that we share, not yet at least. She looked shocked at my offer, being quick to shake her head.

"No I couldn't kick you out of your room. Plus, I think I have had enough cliff's for the week." She smiled tightly, and I nodded. If it was up to me, she wouldn't go anywhere near those rocky monsters.

"Do you mind if we talk? I think that there are something that need to be discussed, about what happened after your birthday party." She winced, but nodded. She seemed to be bracing herself, before letting go of my hand and walking to the window, turning around to face me and sliding down. She curled her legs up and hugged them to her chest, before nodding again and saying "Let's talk."

_Sorry, I know it's short but I'm starting another story for some insane reason. It was an idea that I had and I just had to get it on paper. Now I can't concentrate on this one. The next chapter will be longer, I promise. I'll post the first chapter of my new story soon, I think. It's another 'twisted twilight' one, you know, where Bella is a vampire and Edward is a human. It should be good – It's much more planned out than this one. I actually know what's going to happen. I had no idea when I started this one._


	9. Chapter 9 Talking

_Agian, sorry that this is short, but I did it in a night._

_Previously – "Let's talk."_

She was sitting against the window, look so small and scared, but determined all the same. I hated that I was the one who made her like this. She shouldn't be curled into herself like this, like she was anticipating a blow at any second. I stepped forward until I was next to her, sat next to her.

"How much did you hear when you were changing?" I asked quietly.

"I heard everything, it's just that I don't remember everything, and I'm remembering less and less by the minute. I just remember you saying that you were sorry a lot, for leaving and for changing me, but I don't remember why you were upset about leaving me. I remember what you said….that day." We both winced. "I also remember you saying that you loved me, which I don't understand. You took that back from me the day in the forest."

"I lied that day, the day that we were at the forest." Her head snapped around to meet my eyes, and she frowned.

"What?"

"You weren't safe with me. I always knew that, and you had to too." She shook her head stubbornly.

"You would never hurt me, and we both knew that, you had to know that."

"But how could I? I was so much stronger than you and the thirst, I was getting over that but it was still there. Accidents can happen. Just like we found out at your birthday party. What happened was an accident and neither of us blame Jazz, but we should have anticipated it happened. I had anticipated it, and I still let you be around us, around me! And you got hurt because of that, more hurt by me than anything."

"It was a cut!"

"I threw you into a glass table Bella!" My breathing was heavy but I wasn't angry at her, I was angry at myself, and I think that she saw that. She grabbed my hand and squeezed it gently, and I basked at the electricity. "After what happened with James, I knew more than ever that you weren't safe, but I thought that we could make us work. I would stay until you sent me away, and then when you died, I would too." She stiffened and hissed.

"No."

I smiled tiredly. "Well I guess we don't have to worry about that anymore."

"Everyone had to die someday Edward." She said softly.

"And if you go first, than I'll follow soon." She was right, everyone had to die, even the vampires.

"Still? That doesn't make sense."

"But it does, I love you and I always did. I lied in the forest because I knew that I wasn't safe for you and the only way that I could get you to let go was to make you think that I didn't love you, when I did, of course I did Bella! How could I not? And you believed me, you believed everything that I said straight away, I didn't even need to say it twice. How could I not want you, or need you? That's….there are no words. How could you doubt me that easily?" That's what I had never understood. She didn't even fight me after I told her those words. She believed me straight away.

"Don't say that." She whispered.

"Why?" Before I could blink, she was on the other side of the room. She was fast.

"Because you don't mean that, that's why!"

"Yes I do!"

"No you don't! If you had really ever loved me you wouldn't have left!" She was furious, her hands were balled at her sides and she was biting her lip. She looked like she would be in tears if she could. I was sure that I looked the same.

"Bella…." She looked away from me. "Bella please, you know that isn't true. You have to remember how I was around you. I've never been happier than when I was around you."

"What about your distractions then?" She whispered.

"Oh Bella there were no distraction, none from the pain of leaving you." She looked back at me now. Her eyes narrowed.

"Oh I'm sure leaving me was so painful! You didn't seem to have much trouble leaving me in the forest. And I'm sure you had a hard time! Do you have any idea what it was like for me?" I shook my head.

"Tell me."

"I was empty. I was nothing anymore. You were all I had and then you were gone, and you took my family with you. I got no notice from anyone. Do you have any idea how worthless that made me feel? Nobody wanted me after that. Charlie couldn't stand to be in the same room as me! I know that it was for a different reason than why you left, but even though I knew that it didn't feel like it! After I finally went back to school, nobody spoke to me, they all ignored me or stared at me or made fun of me, telling me that they knew that you would get sick of me soon enough, but that I even made you leave the state! Without notice! I was broken, I didn't eat, didn't talk, couldn't sleep! I got even worse in the night, my defences were down so I could dream about you all leaving me, and how much you hated me!"

"Bella we never – "

"Let me finish! You destroyed me, I was never the same after that day, I'm still not. I probably never will be. You took everything that I was afraid of and all of my insecurities and threw them in my face in one go. Do you have any idea what that does to some one? What that feel's like?" She wasn't yelling anymore, she was whispering. She slid down the door and curled into herself again. I re ached over to he, folding her into my arms and dry sobbing with her. I hadn't meant to do any of that. I thought that what I was doing was going to keep her happy and safe. I thought that she would eventually move on.

My poor Bella, no wonder she hated me –

"I don't hate you, I never could."

"But how could you not? After what I did?' Even I hated me.

"Well you shouldn't, and because I loved you, obviously." Love_d_. Past tense. She loved me, but she didn't anymore. I'd ruined my only hope at happiness, again.

"Not past tense Edward, I still love you, and I always will." And that was all I needed. I crushed my lips to hers, letting loose all of my passion because I knew that she could handle it now. I let her not only feel my love in my kiss, but in my mind. She stiffened, then moaned and kissed me back, wrapping her arms around my neck and curling one of her hands in my hair, I wrapped one arm around her lower back, and threaded the other one in her luscious hair. I thanked God that we didn't need to breath, and kept on kissing her with everything that I had. I'm not sure how much time passed, but it was getting dark by the time that we stopped. Sometime during the course of the kiss, she had ended up on her back with me on top of her. One of my hands was gripping her waist and the other was still in her hair. Her hands were in the same position that they had started in, I think.

"That was different than last time." She said breathlessly. We were both panting for the unnecessary air. I just nodded.

"I hurt you, so I don't deserve you, I never did, and I knew that. But I am too selfish to go, and I always will be. I always was when it came to you." I admitted.

"I don't want you to go again. I didn't want you to go in the first place."

"I know. I still don't understand how you believed me."

Her eyes softened. "You loving me never made sense, I always knew that I would never be enough to hold you forever, but I hoped. You were all I wanted and you leaving just proved me right, it was the conformation that I never wanted."

"You thought that you weren't good enough for me!" I pulled her up. She was practically sitting on me, not that I minded.

"Of course I wasn't, I always knew that, I just hoped that you would stay." She said this like it was the most obvious thing in the world. She was right, I had thrown all of her insecurities at her, and I hadn't even realized.

"I didn't mean for you to react like that." I whispered, resting my head on her shoulder. She started running her hands through my hair angina, scrapping her fingernails along my scalp, causing the most wonderful sensations.

"I know, I've seen your reactions to what I said. You honestly thought that leaving was the best thing to do, no matter how stupid the concept was. I mean honestly, you thought that I could get over you?" She shook her head. "And I'm sorry for how I reacted before, I didn't mean to blow up before, I was just….angry and confused. I shouldn't have taken that out on you."

"But you were feeling that was because of me." That was the problem here.

"But you didn't need to know those things." How wrong she was. I had wanted to know how she had reacted for the past few months, and even if I didn't like how she was, at least I knew now. I shook my head against her shoulder.

"I needed to know that stuff, I wanted to know your reaction. Now I do and I'm so so sorry that you were like that, I hadn't intended – "

"I know Edward, you don't have to explain that anymore." I tilted my head up to look at her, and she was smiling softly in my direction. I nodded, hoping for a change of topic.

"So what did you do while you were away?"

I wanted to simply think 'I just sat there doing nothing of consequence.'. I wanted to keep my mind free of pictures or emotions, but I couldn't. I started think about everything, the many shacks and attics that I had locked myself up in. The pain and misery of being without her, feeling like I was falling apart and needing to hold myself together. I thought about trying to spend time with the family, but how that just made things worse. I tried to stop, but I couldn't. She stiffened in my arms and I knew that she had seen everything, all the stupid things that I had done, everything selfish and everything that I had never intended for her to see.

"Oh." He voice was a broken whisper, and I was the one that did that to her, again.

"You felt that too?" She asked.

"Felt what too?"

"The hole, that gapping hole in your chest, like you were falling apart. I felt that as well, I thought that I was the only one." She had felt It too? This was worse than I had ever imagined. That pain was unbearable for a vampire, as a human she shouldn't have been able to handle that.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure, it felt exactly the same as what you were thinking about. It feels like your coming apart and you can't breath. I had to wrap my arms around myself every time, like your breaking and you need to hold yourself together. It feels like your hearts been ripped out." She knew exactly what she was talking about, and she couldn't of gotten that from my mind. I hadn't thought about the details. I moaned, she felt it all too.

"You shouldn't have been like that." She whispered. She looked guilty, and I couldn't understand why. I was the one that had ruined everything, what was she to be blamed for?

"I was without you, what do you expect?" I tried to smile, but I looked more like grimacing. We sat in silence for a while, before she asked me to talk to her about when we first met. She said she was loosing things that she didn't want. She remembered the meadow the best, but she wanted me to talk to her about it so that she could remember to finer details. I spoke to her, recounting every word and action, but I also thought the whole thing, letting her see it the way that I had, letting her see the way that I saw _her_. She listened in silence, smiling occasionally or nodding. After that we spoke about all of our time together, from the race from James to what we did after school. No day seemed any less important to her, and I was glad that she seemed to share more point of view on that. It hadn't mattered what we did, as long as we were together. And it was still like that. I would gladly sit in this room with her for the rest of my life, as long as I never had to let go. Seeing the world and hunting and music just held no draw if she wasn't with me. I didn't want to do anything without her. The sun was rising again and I hadn't even gotten halfway through our time together. She didn't seem to mind though, but she was a newborn, and she needed to hunt.

So while she got up and straightened her clothes, I tried to mentally prepare myself for what I was about to watch. And I couldn't even hide this time, because she knew my thoughts. This was definitely going to take some getting used to.

She gave me a strange look. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I said, shaking my head. "It's just that it's going to take some getting used to, watching you hunt." She nodded and chuckled.

"I know what you mean."


	10. Chapter 10 The Gift

_So Sorry for the massive delay. I have been distracted and busy, not writing at all. Going to try to make it up to you soon, but school starts in a few days. enjoy - _Previously – "I know what you mean."

Bella Point Of View - Walking towards the first floor, we ran into Alice, rr more like she ran into us. She wrapped her skinny arms around both of our waists, smiling up at us excitedly like a little child.

"You two are back together! Oh I'm so happy, you didn't take as long as I expected either, but long enough! Now lets go hunting, the others will be back by the time that we get back!" She started to pull us towards past the flight of stairs, up a long hallway and to the kitchen, which was were the backdoor was.

'_She could have just thought her 'congratulations' because we could both hear them but Alice was to energetic for that_.'

"Even I knew that." I smiled and looked at Edward. He was still smiling, as he had been since he suggested that we go hunting. I had been trying to ignore his thoughts, so I didn't know what caused that smirk but he didn't look at all sad and there was no negative emotion swimming in his eyes. I was glad for that, I hadn't liked seeing his pain, the images that he had accidently let slip when I had asked him about his time away had brought the pain back to his eyes full force, and I never wanted to see that again, the images or the expression.

"Knew what?" Alice rounded on us, one eyebrow raised questioningly.

'_You know that she probably won't give up till we tell her. Right?'_

"Yer." I answered his thoughts.

"Yer what?" She was getting annoyed.

"Oh nothing!" I smiled brightly and skipped towards the door, pulling a laughing Edward along behind me. We ran through the forest and I was glad that I was starting to beat him, I was actually faster than Edward. Alice was a few miles behind us, complaining in her head that we were using our speed to get away from her. I blocked her thoughts, but lingered in Edwards head. His mental voice was soothing in ways that I didn't know that I needed to be soothed. He started think about this morning, or last night, whenever it was, but the rather long kiss that we had shared on the bedroom floor. He was thinking about his reaction and I laughed breathlessly at him. He pouted at me.

"You should be trying to block the thoughts." He muttered.

"Well I am blocking Alice, I like being in your mind, it's soothing."

"That's not fair, I want to hear your thoughts too, you're still using my own gift against me."

"You already said that." I laughed back at him, I hadn't been this free in months, and I loved being able to laugh and smile again, I had missed that.

"That's why I said still." He laughed.

"Whatever." I shrugged and he laughed.

"You smell that?" He asked. A growl was my only response as I speed towards the animal.

/*&*/

We hunted for about three hours. Edwards thoughts were strange. I had managed to block the thoughts of everyone while I hunted, they stayed close to me because they didn't want to risk any humans coming to the area and me catching their scent. Though un-tuning was pretty easy during hunting, the animalistic instinct helped, I could not concentrate on anything else apart from the blood. But I would always let myself go back to Edwards mind after I had fed. His thoughts were strange, he was always thinking about me, about me hunting and then he would catch himself or something, and start thinking about the trees or an animal that he was hunting or a piano composition. Strange, was he blocking his thoughts from me? I asked him.

"Was I that obvious?" He asked, smiling lightly but he looked away from me.

"Just a lot." I smiled back, and he laughed.

"Can you pick up the feelings of the thoughts yet?" He asked curiously. I tried to concentrate on him and Alice, but she was drinking.

"I can feel Alice's thirst, but I can't feel anything from you." I frowned.

"That's because her thirst is at the forefront of her mind, and I am trying not to think about my feelings, so you can't feel them yet. After a while you might be able to pick them up without the person having to think about them." He frowned for a moment. "Now try me." And I did, and I was over whelmed with the loved that I could feel coming from his thoughts. I smiled brightly and ran to him, throwing my arms round his neck and kissing him senseless, smiling against his lips and feel his own curve up in response. Not that any of my human kisses were disappointing, but vampire kisses were great.

"Come on you two, the others are back now, can you two pry yourself off each other for ten minutes?" Alice was exasperated, but there was a slight smile playing on her lips.

"No." He murmured against my lips and I giggled, pulling away and laughing more freely at his pout, grabbing his hand and pulling him, following Alice. The run took about twenty minutes because we had ventured further away as we hunted, but there was no problem with that, running was fantastic.

The thoughts of the others started to flood my mind, and I slowed next to Edward, trying to adjust and block their thoughts. He rubbed his thumb along my hand, trying to sooth me, and it was working. "Are you alright? He asked me, frowning. I nodded and smiled at him, continuing to run at a faster pace to get back to the others, I had missed them the time that they were away and was eager to re-connect. They were all waiting in the living room fir us when we arrived. Alice skipped to her husbands side, after hugging the other three.

We all hugged and greeted, the usual pleasantries.

"So Bella, how have you been handling….the new life?" Esme was looking anxiously between me and her son, trying hard not to think. To reassure her, I took his hand and heard the joy in his mind. It made me smile. He pulled me towards him, so that I was standing in front of him and wrapped his arms around my waist, leaning his head on his shoulder. Esme started to bounce slightly, she had been spending wayyy to much time with Alice. She pulled us both into her embrace, crushing me against her and Edwards chest. I could feel every line of his body and planes of his chest against my back, and I loved it.

"Oh I'm so happy!" She was squealing, she needed to leave Alice alone.

"We can tell." Edward kissed my head after he spoke, and Esme's squealing increased. Carlisle pulled his wife away from us, giving me back the ability to breathe, and sat her on the couch.

"So Bella, have you made any improvements on your gift?" Carlisle had a calm mask on his face, but I could see how anxious he was under the mask. Carlisle was always the most involved with the newborns of the family. He changed them, trained them and took them hunting. This time, Edward had done everything. He had rescued me, bitten me, stayed with me and taken me hunting. Carlisle had become very good at blocking his thoughts, but even I could feel the impatience in his thoughts. He was making Jasper antsy. I smirked at them.

"We have, I can block other peoples thoughts now, and I can tell when they are blocking me." A sly glance at Edward, who smiled sheepishly and dragged me towards the couch, sitting me on the expensive white material. The others followed our lead before settling their gazes on me. Surprisingly, I didn't feel as uncomfortable was I usually would have. I could tell that they were all just concerned about me, they wanted to help me. "I can feel the emotions in others thoughts now, but not in the way that Jasper can, just the tenor of their thoughts."

"Can you turn the gift off completely yet?" I shook my head. Carlisle was relieved now, and the technical side of his brain was kicking in. He was thinking about all of the possibilities of my gift, what it meant, and how this was nothing like what he expected me to have.

"What did you think her gift would be?" Edwards voice was curious, more curious than a mind readers had the right to be, considering I knew that he and Carlisle had spoken about his inability to read my mind.

"I had actually spoken to Eleazar about that after we left Forks." Edward and I winced. His mind gave my not only his monologue, but the actual meeting with Eleazar. He had olive toned skin under the chalky white pallor that all vampires had. He had black hair and kind eyes. I got lost in his mind and unintentionally blocked his voice and focused solely on his mind. They were sitting in leather arm chairs next to a fire place. The scene looked homely and comforting.

"_Have you heard from Edward?" Eleazar looked up from his book and addressed Carlisle, who looked older and more haggard than I had ever seen him. The expression didn't suit him _

"_He called a few days ago. He wouldn't tell us where he was, and Alice can't get any distinct visions. Just him running or….curled up in a ball." He voice was strange as he rubbed his hands over his face._

"_Why doesn't he just go back to her?" I saw as Eleazar made eye contact with Carlisle, who broke his gaze before he answered the question._

"_We've told you all, he doesn't want her to be one of us. He thinks that we are soulless." _

_Eleazar rolled his eyes. "But I heard Edward say that she was his soul mate." He raised an eyebrow and chuckled._

"_Exactly!"_

"_She sounds like she would have made an interesting vampire." Eleazar looked back at his book, but Carlisle could tell that he wasn't reading._

"_She would have had an interesting gift. Edward couldn't read her mind. That would have had to be something extraordinary." Carlisle's voice sounded far away, as if eh were thinking about the possibilities. Eleazar tilted his head to the side. "What, do you have any theories?"_

"_Well, I was thinking about what that could mean. The way you explained it, how she was immune to some gifts but not others. I was thinking, there are vampires called 'shields'. They can shield themselves from with physical or mental attacks. There is a member on the guard, she is a body guard. Whenever someone comes near her or whoever she is guarding, they forget what they are doing and why they are doing it. They walk away from them. They get their memory back after they leave her range, but they gift works well in a fight._

_It sounds as if Isabella would be a form of mental shield. Edward can not get a read on her, but Jasper and Alice can."_

"_Because their gifts affect the body, while Edwards gift affects the mind." Carlisle summarized for his friend, the wonder growing in his voice with each word that he spoke. Eleazar chuckled._

"_You want to go and change her now don't you?"_

_Carlisle scoffed. "Edward would rip me to shreds, but Bella probably wouldn't mind."_

"A shield? Well, I think that this gift is better. We can really mess with Eddie this way." Emmett boomed, he just can't let us have a serious discussion can he?

"Yer, but I can read your mind now. You have two people to block your thoughts from." I was smug, until he showed me pictures that I _never_wanted to see. "Eww!! Seriously! Pedophile, does Rose know that you do that!?"

"She has no idea that he does that. I have been bribed not to tell." Edward pulled me against his chest and thought. _'But he was nothing on you, you can tell Rosalie and he has nothing to retaliate with.' _

"What does he do that I don't know about, and why do I get a feeling that I need to hit him?" Rosalie started to glare at his husband, who just seemed to be realizing that he was busted.

"Rosie please…." He took her off of his lap and slowly started to walk towards the entrance hall, to the front door, and then ran away from the house. Rosalie looked back at us, raising one perfectly sculpted eyebrow that plainly said 'Please explain.'

"Instead of being an adult and blocking us with a song of something, he shows us you." I shrugged.

"So, you see me all the time."

"Yer, but he shows us the un-PG rated version of you."

"I'm scared for life, I truly am." Edward chimed in behind me. Rosalie was frozen, her thoughts blank for a few moments before they exploded into various visions of causing Emmett bodily harm.

"I'll be back in a few hours." She said coolly, before gliding towards the front door, her pointy red stiletto heals clicking against the tile floor of the entrance hall, before she to reached and slammed the door, running after her husband and screaming his name.

"Anyway…." Carlisle was still looking at the front door, but turned back to us. "Have you thought about when you want to gain the new gift?"

"I want to wait until I have learned to turn them off, and I want to learn my range." Carlisle looked thoughtful, considering the options while I focused on the others. I had re-memorized Edwards face. He looked exactly the same but completely different. His eyes, which I had once thought were one colour, always had a lack background, but were covered in golden flecks, completely gold just after he had hunted and slowly, the flecks would disappear. Esme's hair had many highlights that I had never seen before, not just caramel but dark browns and gold mixed in. I could see each individual eyelash, dark and long. She was more beautiful then I had ever seen her. Jaspers scars, which were meant to be scary and intimidating, were beautiful and obviously a part of him. They helped give him personality and told a story, one that I would try and convince him to tell me. His skin was slightly darker than the others.

"Do you want to try and find the range now?" I snapped back to my thoughts.

"Sure."

The remainder of us got up off the couch and made our way to the backyard. After kissing Edward goodbye, because I was getting the gift from him, I ran east with Carlisle and Esme by my sides, with Edward and Alice going west. I could still hear their thoughts for a while, but eventually I lost Alice and felt a pang of longing when I lost Edward.

"The other two are gone." I whispered, and sensing my sadness, Esme grabbed and squeezed my hand, mentally telling me that we would be together soon. We ran for a few more minutes, after four miles, I lost Esme and Carlisle. I skidded to a halt. "Stop."

They turned and faced me, concern written on both of their faces. "What's wrong dear?" Esme asked.

"I just, can't hear you two anymore." Carlisle flipped open his phone and Edward picked up immediately.

"Stop now, she can't hear us anymore, how far away are you?"

"About four miles." Edwards voice was still amazing, even if the voice was still distorted by the distance between .

"Start heading back slowly, and we will tell you when she can hear you." I could hear him and Alice start to walk again. Esme and Carlisle's mental voices slowly started to come back to me.

"I can hear a murmur again."

"So the range must be about eight miles." Carlisle nodded..

"So can we come home now?" Edward seemed just as eager as I was, and that made me slowly start edging back the way that we came. Esme nodded and chuckled, gesturing towards the house.

"Go go, we can catch up with you." I smiled, waved and sprinted towards the house.


	11. Chapter 11 Help

Hey everybody - sorry for the delay but I have been so busy with school and everything else. I was starting to write the new chapter today but I need some help. Do you want lemons in this story?? I don't know if I want to post them because members of my family read this - they would be....shocked :). So I need advice. If I get enough people pming or reviewing saying that they want them - them I will write some lemons. There won't be any in chapter eleven because I won't have the results in time but I would really appreciate anybody who shares their opinion with me.

Thankyou and review! Sarah xo.


	12. Chapter 12 So I'm Dead?

"**Go go, we can catch up with you." I smiled, waved and sprinted towards the house. **

I was already at the house when she sprinted from the trees and threw herself into my arms, wrapping her slender arms around my neck. She was so perfect, and she just _fit_. She was meant to be mine, and I was going to make sure that she was. As soon as I could. Alice and I had spoken about my plans – now we just had to keep Bella from knowing. We were going to work on her ability as soon as we could. Alice had told me that Bella would soon be able to block my gift – able to turn the mind reading on and off whenever she wanted but that she wouldn't often – she didn't want to intrude on anyone's privacy. My grip tightened on her at just the thought of what I was going to do and I sighed her name. It was like a prayer on my lips, and with good reason. She was all that I had ever need in a companion – in a mate.

"I missed you." She whispered into the marble like skin of my cheek.

"Missed you too, love." I pressed my nose to her hair, breathing her scent and relaxing – the tension in my back and shoulders fading as she gently ran her hands over them. Her touch still left my reeling – it was still warm, just not hot like fire as it had been whilst she was a human. I still remembered the sensation. No other human had ever felt nice if they had touched me. They had been unwelcome and an unneeded temptation. But she was different – I craved her touch, need it, lived for it.

"I love you." She said – possibly in response to my thoughts.

"More than I though possible." I leaned in – covering her lips with mine again. Before anything to get to serious, Emmett's unmistakable voice called us.

"Honestly guys, get a room." I growled at him while Bella scowled. He hair was ruffled and his clothing was torn. He was holding his wrist, which appeared to be popped from place.

"At least my mate didn't beat me up." I growled at him with a satisfied smirk, as his own dropped from his face and he pouted.

"It's funny how he thinks that he still had his self respect, good job Rose, you broke him." Bella chuckled, first looking up at me and then at my sister, who was sitting on the back porch steps with a satisfied smile on her lips. The others had caught up by now and where milling around the backyard or the living room, taking in the new surroundings of the house and deciding where everything should be out this time.

"I did what had to be done." She nodded in satisfaction and then lifted herself up off the stairs and onto the porch. "Come along – you guys need to unpack the stuff that you bought and the stuff that we bought back, the moving truck will be here in a few days. What bedroom are you guys going to use?" I stiffened. We hadn't spoken about this, and I didn't want her to think that we had to share a room. Maybe she wasn't ready for that yet. "Maybe she thought that I would expect something from her by suggesting that.

_Do you want to share a room?_ I thought, directing the thought to her. She looked up at me and nodded, smiling at me and showing all of her gleaming white teeth. I pulled her to my chest – well, tried to. She was already so close.

"We can look at the rooms and decide what one you like better."

"_We _like better." She stressed the word we. I smiled apologetically. Decisions about us couldn't be one sided anymore – we both had to decide. That was fair really, whenever I made a decision without her help I messed everything up. Just look at what happened when I left her.

Greif started to seep into my body again and she hit my chest with the back of her hand, snapping me from my retrieve to find her looking up at me with a frown on her perfect heart shaped face. The sadness descended and joy took it's place. I had her,

"What?" I asked innocently as she rolled her eyes. I rubbed the spot that she had hit – that newborn strength was going to take some getting used to -for the both of us.

"Sorry." She muttered, looking crestfallen. I put my finger under her chin and lifted her face so that I could see her eyes, thinking that she had nothing to be sorry for, that she would gain control in no time, that she couldn't hurt me – not really. She smiled. "Come on, lets go look at the other room."

This house was similar to the one at Forks, but more rustic. It was a brick house – not orange or red or that gross dark brown, but forest brown. It was two stories high, because the last time that we were here it was only me and Carlisle, and Esme, but she had only been here for a short amount of time. The first floor was made up of a kitchen, a dining room, a lounge room, entrance hall, a music room and a library. Upstairs was four bedrooms and a study. Carlisle was lucky that we brought this house – who would have thought that one day we would have a need for all of these rooms? Bella ran me up the stairs, and stopped when we got to the end of the upper story. She pulled me into my room and gasped again at the view.

"So this one?" She whispered breathlessly and I chuckled at her facial expression. She looked so cute.

"If you so wish. The two rooms share a bathroom but I think that the other closet is bigger."

"Alright, so we should start to move the stuff in right?" I nodded enthusiastically, happy to be taking another step in my life with her.

By the end of the night everything that we had packed was unpacked. None of us had anything to do, except for the two 'grown ups.' Esme was working on a new floor plan for the house, she didn't want to re-do everything at the same time, but she definitely wanted to do some work. Carlisle was looking up jobs at the local hospitals and calling Ithaca, he hadn't actually quit there, as we had only just remembered. Bella and I were laying on the 1920's day bed, both of us one our backs with her between my legs, her head resting on my chest. I remember the last time I had laid on this bed, just before we moved from Ashland. I had been trying to ignore Esme and Carlisle, they were lounging on the trees outside and giggling and talking, both of them oblivious to how the other one felt ( as they would remain for the next few months). I had been sitting here, listing to the radio and trying to find something louder than the constant _Carlisle Carlisle Carlisle _from Esme, or the same but in reverse coming from Carlisle. Bella looked up at me, curiouosity swimming in her eyes.

"What, it's true."

"How long did it take them?"

"Five months until they started anything, and they were completely obvious the whole time – but the other one had no idea what the other one was feeling. The whole situation was maddening, nothing I said would convince them."

"Naww, poor baby." She giggled, putting her right hand on my cheek.

It was three days later and the moving truck was scheduled to arrive within the hour. Bella thought that she would be alright if she was still here while the moving men where here, but we didn't want to take any risks. It didn't take to long to convince her that we should go hunting instead of staying in the basement or our room, even if she did think to remind us that she was in Port Angeles and Seattle.

So we went hunting instead. She caught a dear and an elk then whined a little bit about how full she felt. I could sympathize, having been bloated on blood myself before – the sensation was unpleasant, you could clearly feel all the blood sloshing around in you stomach, and when the liquid cooled things got even worse.

"Ewww." She groaned. "I can feel all of the blood moving around." She scrunched up her face, her nose wrinkling in the most adorable way. I chuckled at her, moving forwards until I could pull her from the tree that she was leaning on and wrap my arms around her waist, burying my nose in her hair and breathing her strawberries and freesia scent.

"Don't worry, you're a newborn so your body will absorb all of the blood soon." She nodded her head against my shoulder.

"Do you think that they will be done yet?" She muttered.

"Maybe, we have been for a few hours, and I doubt that they got the movers to put anything upstairs. We can head back now if you want." She nodded against me again.

Before long, we were back at the human-free house and greeted by Alice screeching orders at us, telling us where things needed to be moved and what needed to be unpacked first. Esme was saying more or less the same thing, but doing it in a much more Esme way. She wasn't yelling, but she was clearly stressed. Emmett attempting to juggle the crystal glasses that we never use probably didn't help her any either.

"All of your things are upstairs in your room, except for your couch which is next to the stairs, but still upstairs.

"Alright Esme, we'll go and do that now." I patted her arm soothingly, while she looked close to breaking down. Bella hugged her and said 'sorry about Emmett' before we heard a crash from the kitchen, and she pulled me upstairs. We were already in my room when I heard Esme start to scream at Emmett. When we looked out the window, he was running again.

"Does he do that often? I mean, does he get chased away by the women in the house a lot?"

"Sometimes, but it's happening now more then before." Bella nodded thoughtfully, shrugging, before turning back and looking at the mess that was our room only four hours before. "So where do we start?" She smiled up at me.

------------------

The movers had arrived at ten that morning, but by midnight we were completely unpacked, well almost. Alice was still working on her clothes and Jasper plus Carlisle were still trying to unpack their books – whether in the library or Carlisle's office. I hadn't even made a dent in the CD collection. Sighing I looked over at Bella – who was sitting cross legged on the floor, surrounded by CD boxes and reading the back of one of them. Her forehead was scrunched up in concentration. I sighed and smiled over at her, ecstatic just to be in her presence again.

"I know this song, I just don't – I can't remember how it goes. I remember the tune and I am so close to remembering but -."

"What song is it?" I asked as I walked over and sat next to her, putting one arm over her shoulder and leaning my head against hers, glancing at the CD.

"Blister in the sun."

"Why don't you just play it?"

"The CD player isn't set up yet." I hadn't noticed that yet. I started to replay the song in my head for her.

_When I'm walking, I strut my stuff, then I'm so strung out._

_I am high as a kite, I just might, stop to check you out._

_Let me go on, like a blister in the sun._

_Let me go on, big hands I know that you are the one._

She giggled. "In remember that now, and can I say, hearing you say that possible lowered my respect for you." She continued giggling whilst I continued to stare blankly at her.

"Well you wanted to hear the song, sorry for helping you." I grumbled, nuzzling my nose into her hair.

"Yer but honestly Edward – 'stop to check you out?'."

"Whatever." I grumbled, secretly pleased to see her so carefree.

"I heard that."

Now I knew how the others felt, well, knew more. Having someone else know my every thought was tiring, and often confusing. Having to keep my thoughts in check was even more so, but it was worth it. And I didn't really mind that she could read my mind, if that was what helped her forgive me – to help her understand what I was like without her. I didn't mind her knowing everything. If only I could hear her.

"Well maybe someday we will find out what is wrong with my head, maybe it's a part of this whole 'I can get your gift thing'. Maybe I can turn this off two, I can try and focus on that too." I looked at her, stunned. Why hadn't I thought of that – if she could take off the other gifts, then why couldn't she take off this one?

"We can practice." She said, tilting her head up to peck me softly on the lips. I hummed in response. We spent the rest of the evening unpacking the CD's and setting up the stereo – enjoying each others company. We talked about everything and nothing, what we wanted to do, colleges, the near-by hunting, what else she should expect as a newborn and her family. Her old human family.

"So they really think that I am dead?" She was sitting on the floor again, again reading the covers of one of the CD's that I had accumulated over the years, and I was finishing up the nineties, finally. I stopped what I was doing, turning and looking at her frowning at the CD. I don't think that it was because she couldn't remember this time.

"I'm sorry that it had to be that way, if I had of been earlier, or if I hadn't have left in the first place, you could have had longer. You cold have said your goodbyes and you would have had the choice, I wouldn't have had to – the change wouldn't have had to be like that."

"You would have still changed me? Even if I hadn't been dying?"

"If that was what you wanted, yes. I am a selfish creature Bella, I forced myself to live without you once and I was not prepared to do that again."

"Good, and it can't be selfish if I want that to. That makes it a mutual, and responsible, decision." She nodded determinedly. I was suddenly in front of her, her cheeks cradled in my hands as she sighed and leaned into my touch.

"I love you."

"I love you more." She opened her eyes as she spoke, they black iris's darkening for reasons that had nothing to do with thirst.

"Impossible." I leaned forward to kiss her, capturing her still soft lips with my own. They molded together perfectly. I pulled away, reluctantly, after a few minutes, before anything could get to serious. She wasn't ready for that yet.

She was silent, but obviously thinking about something that had been frustrating her for a while. "They must be upset, but I don't remember everything."

"We could always check up on them, help them out somehow. Alice would probably be willing to go and visit Charlie. It would be too late to go to your….funeral…. but we could do something if you wanted to do." She had started to shake her head before I had finished speaking.

"No, I have left all of that behind me now, I just can't help but think about how they are."

"That's completely normal, you never even got the chance to say goodbye. Was Charlie even home when you left?"

"Don't remember. All that I remember of that day was jumping, and then seeing you. I remember everything from the cliff face with surprisingly good clarity." She rolled her eyes.

"I still want t go and see him, if that's alright with you two." I jumped, stunned. I hadn't heard Alice come up the stairs, or open the door for that matter. "I just want him to know that we care, that we still love you." She looked directly at Bella now.

"If you want to see him, you can go Alice, it probably is a good idea." Alice dances over to us, sitting crossed legged on the box that was next to Bella and I.

"What do you want me to do if I see Jacob? He might be around."

"If you see your future disappear, you leave, change course so that you don't see him. Drive everywhere and don't stay for too long."

"Take Jasper with you – unless the emotional climate would be too much for him." I added to my loves words, turning my head when I saw Jasper appear in the door way.

"Please, I spent about a month uninterrupted with you before you left for the first time, I can deal with Charlie. Plus, there is no way that I would let Alice go there alone." Jasper came over and sat next to us.

Alice nodded. "I'll book the flights."

_Thankyou to all those who reviewed, there won't be any lemons and I think that's for the best, it would seem weird in this story. I may write one as a one-shot if I get time, but with this story, the other story that I havn't posted yet and school (homework and assigments in every friggin subject) I might not get around to that._

Please Review.

You know that you wan to - Sarahxo.


	13. Chapter 13 Charlie

Suprise!! I wrote this in less then a day! Go me, enjoy.

"I'll book the flights."

Charlie Point Of View.

Looking around, I saw what a mess I had let this place become. There were empty beer cans littering the once spotless floor, two empty pizza boxes on the coffee table and the sports channel was still playing, even though I had no idea what had happened for days. The place looked chillingly like it did the first time she left, mind you that time was because Renee took her way. She was a baby and had no idea what was going on. She couldn't even tie her shoes yet. This time she had taken herself away, maybe on accident, maybe on purpose. Her funeral had been a few days ago now, I don't know how many. People had cried and made speeches about Bella, how great and selfless they thought she was. Everything they said was true, but how many of them actually knew her that well. She was my daughter and I didn't even know her that well – especially not lately. She had been hollow, completely empty and worse than I had been when Renee had left me. Who knows why, but she did love that boy. And the son of bitch broke her heart without even a phone call, and then she got taken away from me. I should have been better, put more effort into making her better. I should have taken her to the doctor, made sure that she spoke to someone, even sent her back to Renee. She wasn't the most caring or competent woman, but she loved her daughter and would have tried to help her, well, I think so. Renee had never been easy to discourage, but she hated to be around anything sad. For all I know she would have either ignored our daughter or shipped her back here. Great deal of confidence that would have given Bella.

Renee was staying with Phil at the hotel in Port Angeles. I had no idea when she was leaving, or if she already had, or if she would come to say goodbye when she did, but I didn't really care that much anymore. I looked at the coffee table. At the picture that I had taken on her eighteenth birthday. Her and Edward were standing in the kitchen, looking all happy and full of love.

I had found the pictures along with a CD and two flight tickets to go to Jacksonville, so that they could go together I guessed. The decision to leave really had been split second if he they had bought her air flight tickets. I respected the fact that the kid had to move, I really did, but did he have to leave her like that, no contact, no 'long-distance', just dump her while she was by herself standing in the forest. The flight tickets and the jewel case was sitting with the photos. There were a few more that I didn't bother looking at again.

I could hear a car pulling up on the driveway, and stood up to look at the door, maybe Renee was coming back to say goodbye. I went and put the pizza boxes on the kitchen counter and then started to collect the cans. I wasn't clean shaven, but I was fully dressed so that would have to do for her. The knock on the door was so light, that I knew that this couldn't be Renee. I stepped curiously towards the door, opening it slowly. I stared at the little girl in front of me, and then up at the tall blonde man next to her who seemed to be wincing slightly.

"Hey Charlie!" Alice Cullen chirped, hugging me around my midsection, tightly for a little girl.

"Alice?" If only she had been here two weeks earlier. But what was she doing here.

"Who else? As if you could ever forget me." She giggled.

"Hello sir." The blonde man offered me his hand to shake, which I did.

"Jasper right?" He nodded. "Nice to meet you finally." He smiled.

"It's a shame that we never really got to know each other before, your daughter is like a sister to me." I cringed, and he winced again, dropping my hand. I suddenly felt calmer, more relaxed than I had in days, more than what beer could do.

"Is Bella here? I haven't seen her for ages and I miss her soo much!" Alice drawled out the so. I shook my head, ever so slightly, but she caught it.

"Oh is she working? " The man asked again.

"No, you missed her by a few weeks?" Alice's grin fell from her face. She tilted her head to the side.

"Where did she go, is she back with Renee?"

"No sweetheart," I head always had a soft spot for Alice, how could I be angry at her for being unaware of this, or for wanting to know. "Bella died." The little girl stood stock still, as did Jasper, who know looked pained.

"No." She shook her head, as the boy put his hands on her shoulders. "No, you are lying, she couldn't – Bella, but….no." At least she wasn't crying yet, I don't know if I could take anymore tears, but her strange coloured eyes were twinkling.

"You two want to come in?" They both nodded, seemingly numb, as they entered the little house. I turned on the living room light and sat on the recliner, they sat together on the couch.

"She isn't really…."

"Yer sweetheart, she is."

"When?" Jasper asked.

"Not even two weeks ago. The funeral was four days ago, I don't know if Renee is still here."

"What happened to her? Was there an accident or..?" Alice picked her legs up off the floor and wrapped her skinny little arms around her skinny little knees, hiding her head there.

"She jumped off of a cliff, over at La Push." Alice stilled and Jaspers head shot up from Alice's once shaking form.

"Jumped off a cliff?" I nodded in affirmative to his question. "On purpose?" I nodded again.

"No." Alice was in the denial stage, or whatever the stupid police shrink said. I can sort through my own emotions Thankyou very much.

"Apparently she wasn't trying to die, she was cliff diving but the current was too strong for her, or so we think."

Alice stood up, hiding her face, shoulders still shaking, and walked from the house. Jasper stared blankly at me for a moment before clearing his throat and standing. He walked to the door and stopped as he got there, telling me that he would stop by later, that he had to tell the family, and then left my house. What would the family care? No, what would Edward care? Mind you, none of them had said goodbye to her as far as I know, so what were they doing here?

Four hours later, they came back, fresh clothes and broken expressions , knocking on my door and holding each others pale hands. We were sitting back on the couches in silence, before the tension got to much for me and I asked the question I didn't want to ask, but needed to know the answer too.

"Did you tell your family?" They nodded together. "How are they?"

"Esme is falling apart, Carlisle is upset but holding himself together for her. Emmett is miserable but trying more angry. Rose is trying to calm him, but she feels guilty for how she always acted around her, and we can't get a hold of Edward." Alice said in one breath.

"You can't get a hold of him?"

"No we think that he is in South America, but we don't know yet. He won't pick up his phone either, but we decided to wait until we can get him home before we tell him. Carlisle is going to take some time off work and go to find him."

"You don't know where he is, your parents don't know where their son is?"

"He was depressed after we left, he didn't do anything for a month – he wouldn't even leave his room. Esme was so concerned, his depression was wearing off on the rest of us. When he ran away we were all out, and he would only even call every few weeks, but he wouldn't tell us what was going on, or where he was."

"So he just….left.

"He couldn't be around ' the happy couples ' yet, he couldn't do anything. He dropped out of school and everything. He saw how he was affecting us, and he left before we could do anything." Jasper finished for his sister or girlfriend or whatever she was to him.

"Is there anything that we can do?" Alice muttered after a short pause.

"Call me after you find him, tell me what he did."

"We already know what he's going to do."

"And that is?" The two looked at each other.

"He already said long ago that he wasn't going to live without her, but then we had to leave, and in the state that he is already in….we think that he might try to, erm, join her. Jasper wouldn't look me in the eyes.

"Join her?" He couldn't….

"We're afraid that he might try to kill himself, he over thinks everything and we already know that he blames himself for hurting her. He will blame himself for her death and he won't want to be without her. That's why we want him home first, we need to watch him."

Well, I hadn't been expecting that at all. "If he loves her so much, then why did her leave her like that. Couldn't they just….try long distance or anything?

They exchanged another look again, like they were trying to decide what to say, if they should say anything at all. "Edward thought that he was bad for Bella. After what happened in Phoenix, he blamed himself for that. She hurt herself at her birthday party and he blamed himself for that. Edward fails to see the good parts of himself, he didn't want to hold her back by making her stay committed to him because he was going to live so far away, even if they did go to the same college and would only have to wait a few months. He thought that she would be happier without him, without any of us in her life. The decision to leave was so sudden, and even though it was Carlisle's career, the decision if we left had a lot to do with Edward. He thought that this was what was best for Carlisle, and so he decided to go."

Valid reasons, but he was still an asshole, he was still the reason that my baby girl was dead.

"So there isn't anything that we can do to help, there has to be something?"

"No honey, there isn't anything that you can do now." She nodded, sighed, and stood up.

"Well, Dad wants us home soon, we were only meant to stay for a day or two but if Edward is coming home, we need to be there. "

"Alright then kids, have a safe trip home." Alice hugged me again and Jasper shook my hand. I walked them to the door, and bid them goodbye. "Oh wait!" They turned. I went back to the coffee table and picked up the CD, pictures and the flight tickets. "Give these back to your brother, and remember to call me." She took the pictures and bit her lip, nodding her head before turning back to the car and sitting in the passenger seat.

"It was good to see you again Chief Swan, we will keep you updated." Jasper shook my hand again with his ice cold and pale one, closed the little girls door, walked to his own and started the car, pulling from my driveway and maybe from my life.


	14. Chapter 14 Alice

Alice Point Of View –

"Jasper, are we ready to go?"

"Of course dear." He was suddenly next to me, holding his bag and taking mine from my petty hand. He was quieter than me and was one of the few people who could actually sneak up on me. I loved that he could still take me by surprise.

"Come on, we'll miss our flight. The others gathered by the door to say goodbye, and to remind us that we had to be careful.

The airport was a two hours drive from where we lived, even going at our speeds.

"Will you be alright, Charlie is probably really upset and you've had enough of that to deal with the rest of our lives." Was I just putting my husband through more pain than necessary? Was this even a good idea? I didn't see our future disappearing, but things could change, I would know that.

"Sweet, I'll be fine. I have dealt with Edward minus Bella for a month; I can deal with a grieving Charlie." He smiled at me, but it was strained. He knew that humans had powerful emotions, not as powerful as vampires for sure, but he knew that other vampires underestimated the power of human emotions, just look at Bella's emotions for Edward. He thought that she didn't feel enough, she emotionally died when he left. The only problem was that humans usually had an array of emotions, instead of just one solid emotion. At least vampire emotions were more arranged, I guess you could say.

"Do you see our future….disappearing?"

"No, we are still there, talking to Charlie, back at out house for a few hours, back to Charlie's, back home."

"So we won't even be there for a day?"

"Probably not, not unless something changes or something drastic happens that I haven't seen yet. Also, I think that we should try and incorporate some of the truth into what we tell him." My husband looked over at me questioningly. "We should tell him what Edward was like, to some degree, and that we think that Edward might try something stupid if he finds out about the death."

"We tell Charlie that Edward wants to kill himself? Seriously."

"I think that that might make him understand that Edward isn't just some jerk that broke Bella's heart." He flinched. "Honey, you know that that wasn't your fault, and you know that Bella doesn't blame you for what happened, nobody does. You shouldn't either." He shrugged. "Jazz…."

"I k now sweetheart, but I can't help that I think what happened was my fault. If I hadn't have attacked, then Edward wouldn't have left – " He drawled in his lazy southern accent, before I cut him off, though I do like the fact that he isn't covering up his voice anymore.

"And Bella might not have been a vampire yet, and Rose wouldn't be nice to Bella, Edward would be more 'I hate myself' and all of us would be suffering from the bloodlust. What happened was really for the best, even if they were horrible when they were apart from each other."

"Well you do present a good point there darlin', the 'I'm not good enough for Bella' Edward can get really annoying." He rolled his eyes.

"She makes a good vampire too, she is going to have pretty good control – I don't quite understand how that one will work, but whatever." I shrugged, leaning over to hold his hand in mine. The rest of the drive was mostly silent, but words weren't needed in our relationship. Because of his gift, we could simply think about each other and he could feel all of my love and adoration for him, and project his own onto me. His gift was even more useful than mine.

"So how long do you think it will be before Bella is ready for either of our gifts, are we going to do yours or mine first?" Jasper asked me as he pulled up at the long term parking garage. Why we were here instead or short term, I have no idea, maybe he thought that something would change, maybe he was used to just parking in long term. But his question still had merit, and this was something that I couldn't tell him at home, where we could be overheard.

"She should be ready for another gift in two weeks, and we're going to do your gift first now."

"Why the change?"

"Because Edward has new plans – well, not new, but he has almost definite plans now, he wanted to do this ages ago but he didn't think that Bella wanted to do that." His face was blank as he looked over at me, before he slowly rose and eyebrow and a hint of a smile played at his lips. "I did it again didn't I?" He nodded. I had a habit of getting ahead of myself, and I had only found out about that after I met him, it explained why I had been given many funny looks when I was around humans. I had thought that it was because of my nature, their natural defenses, but I was wrong – for the most part at least. I would start to talk about things that I saw happening, explain why they were happening even, but I would never say exactly what was happening.

"Edward is going to propose to Bella, he had wanted to do it for ages but he thought that Bella would either say no, or say yes but make him change her. He always knew that if he ever want back and she forgave him that it would be one of the first things that he did. Now that she's a vampire, all that he has to worry about is her saying no – which is freaking him out."

"Ohh, that's why he was all edgy and….well more Edward then usual." He tilted his head to the side and I laughed at him. We were walking hand in hand towards the terminal now, ignoring the stares that we always got. He was carrying both of our bags, his over his shoulder and mine in his left hand. "So Bella can't have your gift yet or she might see what Edward has planned."

"Exactly, and I refuse to let him steal your proposal." She smiled, showing off his white teeth. When he asked me to marry him, he had taken me completely by surprise – a great feat. I hadn't seen him saying anything, just him sitting in front of my then me screaming joyously. And that's exactly what he did. He sat in front of me and took my hand, and finally made the direct decision. The vision had been simple enough, just us sitting exactly where we were in just a few seconds time.

"Will you marry me, my Alice?" Vision Jasper asked, his accent so much stronger then he let show these days.

Then real me screamed and tackled him to the ground, peppering his face with kiss's as he laughed joyously and asked 'so you'll marry me?' I screamed 'yes!' again and again as he slipped the ring on my finger, and we proceeded to ravish each other in the forest.

_Good times. _I though, and he looked at me knowingly; he always knew when I was thinking about him.

"We couldn't have him stealing my proposal – that was a one of a kind."

"Too true."

The woman at the counter practically molested my husband with her eyes, but snapped out f it when I slammed my hand on the counter. Her heart rate speed up and adrenaline spiked her blood system, so I swapped my glare for a too-sweet smile.

"We need two one way tickets to Port Angeles Washington." Jasper said, pulling both of out ID's and his credit card from his pocket. There were the ones that stated that our last names where Whitlock. Whenever we moved, we never used the last name Hale or Cullen for a few months, just in case someone was looking for us – especially whenever we had to leave immediately or we knew that someone was looking for us, like the time that Rose 'died' and we had to break her out of the morgue. That really confused the humans and we had to run immediately.

"Just one way Mr. Whitlock?" At least she had the decency to not look at him anymore, and she kept her gaze firmly fixed on the computer screen in front of her.

"Yes, just one way." He nodded, looking around the airport and taking in his new surroundings. The woman nodded again and typed, her French manicured nails making obnoxious clicking noises against the keys.

"There is a flight about to leave, but they are boarding now so you'll miss that…."

"Could we get on that one?" I could feel the persuasion rolling of him. "We think that something has happened to our sister, we need to make sure that she is alright." And now the sympathy is rolling off of him. She pursed her thin lips as her hazel eyes softened.

"Of course, but you will have to hurry."

"That's no problem, Thankyou miss." I chirped, and she looked up at me seemingly surprised. Couldn't blame her I guess, I did send her a death glare the last time that I even looked at her. She nodded and handed us the freshly printed ticket. Jasper dragged me away from the counter and down a deserted hallway, where we started to ran at vampire speed, so that no humans could see us. When we reached the terminal, we ran to another corridor and stopped, walking back out at a human pace with satisfied smiles on our face. That probably didn't look too good but we were proud of ourselves for getting here on time without arising any suspicion.

"I don't think that that lady liked me vary much." I giggled.

"She was a bit scared of you." He chuckled, handing the tickets to the woman at the new counter, who stared at him with an open mouth as she scanned the tickets

"Meh." I shrugged.

"So, we tell him as much as we can." Jasper conformed with me as we pulled up at Charlie's house.

"Yep, are you sure that you are going to be alright?"

He smirked over at me, but his eyes still held a hint of sadness, the guilty kind that I had seen there far to often lately. At least the emotion was going away, though this wouldn't help. "With the emotions or with the acting?" I tilted my head up and leaned over the center console to kiss him lightly on the lips.

"Both." I giggled as I jumped from the car, knowing fully well that he was one of the best actors in the family; even if his gift helped him a lot.

"Hey!" I heard him call as I shut the door. Skipping up the path and then up the front steps, smiling slightly as my husband materialized by my side and tapped lightly on the wooden front door. "No shape shifter scent?"

"None strong enough for us to be concerned with." I muttered as Charlie opened the door.

The man was a mess, and I was glad that Bella hadn't come to see this. I hoped that she wouldn't (or couldn't) read my mind when we got back up to Ashland. She didn't need to see the man she loved life this. Remotely, a part of me wondered if he had let himself go like this after Renee had left him – and taken my sister / best friend with her. He was wearing suit pants, probably the same ones that he had worn to the funeral, and had a three day growth, plus some. The smell of food was strong, and the disgusting stuff had obviously been left there for a while because the scent was worse than usual. I could smell the alcohol everywhere and tried not to show my distaste, my nose only scrunching up slightly so that eh probably would not see.

The shock on his face when he was me and Jasper would have made me laugh if we were here on any other circumstances.

"Hey Charlie!" I chirped, throwing my arms around him and hugging him tightly for a few seconds, before letting go and stepping back to Jasper.

"Alice?" The shock on his face quickly melted into sadness and sympathy.

"Who else? As if you could ever forget me." Why was he offering me sympathy? I just got my best friend turned into a vampire, but he lost his daughter.

"Hello sir." My southern gentleman introduced himself to the Chief and I just remembered that they had never met. I really wished that they had met before – when he was happy.

"Jasper right?" Charlie asked, looking him directly in the eyes. "Nice to meet you finally." He said after Jasper nodded his approval.

"It's a shame that we never really got to know each other before, your daughter is like a sister to me." And he wasn't lying, Jasper wished that he had gotten to know Bella better as a human. He didn't avoid her because he had any aversion to her, he just didn't want to hurt her. She was his little sister the moment he realized the threat that James, Victoria and Laurent presented not only to me, but to her as well that day that we played baseball. When we left, he took the whole thing hard. Not just from the guilt or everybody else's emotions, but because he left his family behind, he left one of his own. That was the ultimate betrayal to him. Growing up, Jasper had belonged to a big southern family. He was the oldest and spent his time helping his little sisters and brothers, when he wasn't helping the men of his family with the farm. Then after that, he went to the army – where he was a firm believer of the concept that had always been bread into him, that he stood by no matter what. No man gets left behind. That was another reason why the southern wars had been so hard on him, but most defiantly not the biggest reason for his discomfort.

"Is Bella here? I haven't seen her for ages and I miss her soo much!" I was playing my part perfectly, if I didn't mind saying so myself. Charlie shook his head, whether he meant to or not, I wasn't too sure, but what did that matter? We already knew the answer, and why she wasn't here.

"Oh is she working? " Jasper asked curiously, not letting his emotions show. I wasn't sure if he was helping with his emotions, but maybe it was best if Jasper didn't affect him any way, things would just come crashing on Charlie when we left.

"No, you missed her by a few weeks?" I let the smile fade away.

"Where did she go, is she back with Renee?"

"No sweetheart," His voice was quiet. "Bella died." I stood stock still. Knowing that the words weren't true but they were still hard to hear. The very thought of our Bella dying was still hurtful, even if she was alright. The vision that I saw that day came swimming before my eyes before I had a chance to react and I shook the feeling off, hoping to make things easier on my husband.

"No." I paused. _You know that she's alright Alice, you know that._ A vision came over me, Bella and Edward kissing, Edward slamming her against the wall and then Emmett walking in on them. "No, you are lying, she couldn't – Bella, but….no." My eyes stung thinking about loosing my best friend again, about the things that Charlie must be going through.

"You two want to come in?" We nodded and he led us to the living room, sitting on his old recliner as me and Jazz sat on the couch.

"She isn't really…."

"Yer sweetheart, she is."

"When?" Jasper asked.

"Not even two weeks ago. The funeral was four days ago, I don't know if Renee is still here."

"What happened to her? Was there an accident or..?" I didn't finish. I picked my legs up off of the floor and wrapped my arms around them. To help ease my tension, and hopefully Jaspers too, I let myself search the future, looking for something, anything, happy that could keep my sane for the next few minutes.

_Me and Jasper, sitting on the bad at the Forks house, soon._

_Esme and Carlisle looking at a paint chart, Esme frowning and Carlisle pressing his lips together to refrain from laughing._

"_You are so cute when your concentrating this hard." He whispered in her ear, while the frown lifted from her face and she turned her torso around, putting her hand on his cheek and pecking him lightly._

"She jumped off of a cliff, over at La Push." Mine and Jaspers head shot up to look at him. At least we knew what they thought had happened to her, what would have happened if Edward hadn't gotten there in time.

"Jumped off a cliff?" Jasper asked. "On purpose?" He continued, his voice tense. This was hard on him too, he as imagining this being real too, trying to stop the thoughts.

"No." My voice was weak.

"Apparently she wasn't trying to die, she was cliff diving but the current was too strong for her, or so we think."

I stood up, straight faced and walked from the room to the front porch and went to the car silently. I could hear Jasper talking to Charlie a the door, telling him that we would be back soon, after we spoke to the family.

"You alright sweetheart?" Jasper put a calming hand on top of my own once he was in the car. I nodded.

"What he said wasn't real, we know that, the fact of the matter is that he still thinks that all of that is real and there is nothing that we can do."

"And that everything that he said still felt real." Jasper said quietly, like he could read my thoughts as well as my emotions.

"Yer Jazzy, that too."

The drive to the house was short and uneventful as we basked in each others presence.

"What do you want to do now?"

"How long do we have?"

"Four hours."

"Bedroom." He responded quickly, walking up the steps and then jumping up to the window that we kept open on the top story, opened it, slid inside before running back and opening the door for me.

"My lady, welcome home." He bowed and I giggled at his formality, but stopped short when the flashes of what he was deciding ran though my head.

"Bedroom, definitely."

Four hours, a shower and a necessary new set of clothes later we were walking back up the porch steps to Charlie's house.

We nodded at each other and the atmosphere was tense, but the usually quiet man was about to break the silence.

"Did you tell your family?" We nodded together. "How are they?"

"Esme is falling apart, Carlisle is upset but holding himself together for her. Emmett is miserable but trying more angry. Rose is trying to calm him, but she feels guilty for how she always acted around her, and we can't get a hold of Edward." I said in one breath, and that was mostly the truth about what happened when I told them that we had a near death accident on our hands.

"You can't get a hold of him?"

"No we think that he is in South America, but we don't know yet. He won't pick up his phone either, but we decided to wait until we can get him home before we tell him. Carlisle is going to take some time off work and go to find him."

"You don't know where he is, your parents don't know where their son is?"

"He was depressed after we left, he didn't do anything for a month – he wouldn't even leave his room. Esme was so concerned, his depression was wearing off on the rest of us. When he ran away we were all out, and he would only even call every few weeks, but he wouldn't tell us what was going on, or where he was."

"So he just….left.

"He couldn't be around ' the happy couples ' yet, he couldn't do anything. He dropped out of school and everything. He saw how he was affecting us, and he left before we could do anything." Jasper defended his brother and our parents.

"Is there anything that we can do?" I muttered after a short pause.

"Call me after you find him, tell me what he did."

"We already know what he's going to do."

"And that is?" The two looked at each other.

"He already said long ago that he wasn't going to live without her, but then we had to leave, and in the state that he is already in….we think that he might try to, erm, join her." If only he knew how true that was, that was Edwards plan. He hadn't planned on being in a world without Bella for very long.

"Join her?"

"We're afraid that he might try to kill himself, he over thinks everything and we already know that he blames himself for hurting her. He will blame himself for her death and he won't want to be without her. That's why we want him home first, we need to watch him."

"If he loves her so much, then why did her leave her like that. Couldn't they just….try

long distance or anything?" I exchanged a look with Jasper that clearly said 'what do we say now?'

"Edward thought that he was bad for Bella. After what happened in Phoenix, he blamed himself for that. She hurt herself at her birthday party and he blamed himself for that. Edward fails to see the good parts of himself, he didn't want to hold her back by making her stay committed to him because he was going to live so far away, even if they did go to the same college and would only have to wait a few months. He thought that she would be happier without him, without any of us in her life. The decision to leave was so sudden, and even though it was Carlisle's career, the decision if we left had a lot to do with Edward. He thought that this was what was best for Carlisle, and so he decided to go."

"So there isn't anything that we can do to help, there has to be something?"

"No honey, there isn't anything that you can do now." I nodded, sighed, and stood up.

"Well, Dad wants us home soon, we were only meant to stay for a day or two but if Edward is coming home, we need to be there. "

"Alright then kids, have a safe trip home." I gave him a parting hug and Jasper shook his hand. "Oh wait!" Me and Jasper turned back to him, already back to the door. "Give these back to your brother, and remember to call me." I took the pictures and bit my lip (a habit that I had picked up from Bella) and nodding her head before turning back to the car and sitting in the passenger seat.

"It was good to see you again Chief Swan, we will keep you updated." Jasper said again, before closing my door for me and driving away.

"What are we going to tell him when we call?"

"No idea, we can talk about that with the others when we get home, maybe arrange some visits so that he doesn't completely hate us all." I cringed.

"He doesn't hate us all, but he does get pissed and bitter whenever Edward is mentioned. He was shocked and short of sympathetic when we told him about our brother though, he didn't like the fact that we thought that he might try to take his life though, so that's a good thing right??"

"Right." I nodded.

Please review and tell me what you think.

Do you want more Charlie or point of views from the other Cullens? Do you want more Bella point of view or maybe even a visit from our favourite flame haired vampire?


	15. Chapter 15 What Happened?

Edward Point Of View -

1am, the morning after they had left, Jasper and Alice drove up our gravel drive way in Alice's recently acquired porch. Rosalie had been bragging about the new model that she had seen whilst she and Emmett were in Italy earlier on their honey moon and Alice decided that she wanted one. I couldn't decide if it was a good thing that they were back so soon. They were blocking their thoughts, Jasper reciting a civil war book and Alice was singing a Blue Foundation song in her head. Bella was sitting frozen in my lap and Carlisle was pacing the floor in front of me. We all wanted new information on not only how Charlie was coping – though that was fairly obvious – and if there was any new information about Bella. Had they reopened the case? Had they found a 'body'? Had they had a……..funeral?

"Why are they blocking their thoughts? They shouldn't be doing that should they?" Bella gripped my hand tightly, a little too tightly with her newborn strength but I didn't think about that.

"Don't worry sweetheart, everything will be fine." She squeaked in reply, high and anxious. They walked in then, the smile on even Alice's face was forced and then I knew that whatever it was that she was about to say wasn't going to be good.

"Welcome home you two." Esme welcomed them, hugging each one in return before sitting on the loveseat and dragging an anxious Carlisle with her.

"What happened?" Bella blurted before realizing what she had done and shifting her hair from over her shoulder so that it hid her face and turning into my chest. "Sorry."  
She muttered.

"It's alright." I felt calmer and mouthed a thankyou up at Jasper. "We didn't find out much about Bella, but that you had a funeral a few days ago. Renee and Phil came but Charlie doesn't know if they left yet, they stayed at a hotel but they haven't called him to tell him that they have left or anything like that." Jasper sighed, walked over to that armchair and sitting little Alice on his lap.

"He wasn't good, there was old pizza boxes and beer cans all over the place and he was still in his suit pants but he will get better, I've seen it, kind of." Alice bit her bottom lip, a habit that she had picked up from Bella.

"Kind of?" Bella asked, her grip tightening and I had to work to not wince.

"Do you know this woman? I saw a fision of her at a funeral but it wasn't yours, it was for a man. They were sitting in a room and holding each other but now I keep seeing those two together. But everything is fuzzy – only sometimes there." She showed us her visions, Charlie and the unidentified woman hugging, fishing, her cooking whilst Charlie laughed next to her. The visions ended some time away, where the two of them were old and gray, Charlie lying in a hospital bed. The vision ended as soon as the door opened and the woman said "Leah, Seth."

"That's Sue Clearwater. Her husband and Charlie were really good friends but he was still alive the last that I knew." Bella had an apprehensive look on her glorious face.

"Well he's dead now I can guarantee you."

"Oh poor Charlie!" She moaned, raising her spare hand to cover her face and squeezing her eyes shut.

"This isn't your fault love." I whispered, pulling her hand away and kissing the side of her face. She opened her eyes to look at me before kissing my lightly one the lips.

"Get a room." Emmett boomed and I growled at him.

"But I don't understand why there are so many holes!" Alice moaned, frustrated.

"Well they live on the reservation and are closely involved with the werewolves and their families. I wouldn't be surprised if her son turned to one." Bella shrugged.

"Well that would make sense." Alice shrugged, mostly convince but still quite obviously concerned. "We told him that we would call once we got a track of Edward." Everyone turned to look at me and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm obviously still here."

"We told him that we called you after we left the first time – after we found out that Bella was dead. We told him pretty much what really happened except for the smashing walls and the vampire stuff."

"Smashing walls?" Bella asked.

"My bad." Emmett grinned.

"Yer, you don't want to see the house in Ithaca" Jasper rolled his eyes

"Me and Esme fixed the wall." Rosalie said as Esme nodded. "We wouldn't let him near the paint either, who knows what he could have managed to do with that." She rolled her eyes. Her and Jazz could really pass for twins. I heard Bella giggle in response to my thoughts.

"So we have to call him back?" Carlisle asked Alice, steering us back to the conversation.

"Yes, but we also told him that we had to find Edward – that you, Carlisle, was going to go to South America and look for him." Alice looked at Bella who shrugged. Alice didn't know that Bella knew everything that had happened whilst I was away – she knew more then even Alice. She didn't know about my plans for what I would do if she dies though and I planned to keep that that way.

"We decided to tell him the closest possible to the truth, so we told him what we knew Edward would actually try to do if Bella died."

"What do you mean?" Bella asked. Jasper went to answer her, obviously not feeling or choosing not to recognize my feelings of desperation , or seeing my free hand waving round frantically and me shaking my head. I thought that that was obvious. "Go to the Volturi and try to get himself killed. But we didn't mention the Volturi." Bella stilled, stopped breathing but than started to shake her head.

"No he wouldn't."

"I saw it." Alice said. She snapped her head towards me and shot me a glare that made me shrink back, I knew what was coming. I braced myself for the 'how dare you!' that I was about to get, but nothing. She turned her head and nodded at Alice, who was grinning like a madman.

'_Nice going Bella, and no I will not show you the vision Edward.'_ She thought at us.

"So we'll call him in a few weeks." Carlisle again took us back to the conversation.

"I think that we should go and visit him as well, not all of us at the same time obviously, but maybe Esme and Carlisle just so that he knows that we 'miss Bella too.'" Esme and Carlisle nodded, pleased to have found a way that they could help. "So what did you guys do yesterday?" Alice chirped, brightening the sad mood. Bella and I look at each other from the corners of our eyes, before turning back to out sister with a smirk on our faces.

"We went hunting but Bella and Edward came home early. The rest of us only got back about an hour ago." Jaspers face brightened in recognition, and then stilled in disbelief before he chuckled.

'_You didn't, did you? Because that would explain the change in the sexual tension, and why the two of you smell so strongly of each other.'_

And that's why I made sure that we hadn't showered since we started, not because I wanted everyone to know what had happened but because I love the smell of us. Not necessarily just the sex, but the two combined scents.

'_I'm doing this for you kids.'_ He thought.

"Hey Alice? Wasn't there a new sweater that you wanted from the New Gucci line?" Everybody turned to look at him shocked, except for me and Bella who were shooting out waves of gratitude and joy.

"YAY!" Alice squealed, getting of his lap and jumping up and around him. "I knew that I could convince you how fun shopping was. Come on guys ,lets go!" She pulled Jasper up, who had a blank face and was thinking '_You owe me.'_Esme and Rosa got up to follow her and Jasper. Emmett started to walk up the stairs before Rose called to him and he followed, upset that he had been caught. Carlisle was grinning because he didn't have to go, he had an interview at the local hospital.

"Well, I am off too, I'll see the both of you later." He nodded, grabbed his bag than ran to the car.

"Soooo," Bella said, grinning coyly at me. I kissed her forcefully, passionately, grabbing her waist and standing up off the couch. I started walking towards the stairs after wrapping her amazing legs around my waist before she stopped. "Don't think that I have forgot about what Alice said, you will get told off for that later."

"I can deal with that." I kissed her again. "But there's something else that I want to do first." I grinned at her, enjoying the way that her breath hitched.

"Upstairs, now." She pointed up the stairs.

_Like she even needed to ask._

**I might post an extra lemon as another story. The lemon would be of the uninterrupted hours whilst the family was hunting and possible the hours that the family was hunting. Review are better then lemony goodness, leave one**


	16. Chapter 16 Suprise

Three weeks later –

Edward Point Of View –

"Seriously you two, get a room!" Emmett's voice boomed through the first story of the new house, aimed directly at me and my love.

"We are in a room Emmett." Bella corrected him.

"Well I'm here too, go make out somewhere else, I don't want to see him feeling up my baby sister."

"Well I want him too." I grinned at her smug tone, raising an eyebrow at my brother and pulling her closer to me.

"Well do that somewhere else!" He repeated.

"Now you know how I felt all those times where you and Rose forgot the meaning of PDA." That shut him up. He started to grumble something about his virgin brother being a pain in the ass. Of course he knew that I wasn't anymore, but he still liked to insult me for anything that he could. The family had found out about mine and Bella's new….activities shortly after Jasper and Alice got home. We hadn't expected them too find out so soon, but didn't expect the secret to last to long. It wasn't actually a secret but I wasn't going to go screaming at them 'I had sex last night!' now was I? No, I was still a gentlemen – even if I let my desires and hormones get the better of me sometimes. I was inclined to blame Bella for that, she was quite the vixen, something that I had never expected, what didn't help was that she was just as unstable as me, so neither of us was really opposed to being constantly attached at the hip (literally), but we still tried to find time for the family and working on Bella's talent. About a week ago (I had no idea what the day was anymore) she got Jasper's gift, and that had made things interesting. She was finding this one a lot harder to control then the mind reading, saying that when she was me, the voices seemed to just float away, they became a background noise that she barely heard, and I could relate, but with the empathetic gift, it was just too easy to let go of her emotions and let everybody else feel them. She would become exhausted feeling what everybody else was and had a hard time feeling everybody else's thirst. Her and Jasper together, whilst she had no control, was to be avoided. She would project what everybody else was feeling plus her own emotions, then Jasper would feel them and they would be too much because he was already feeling everything, so then everything was doubled and he would project. Bella would then feel that and project and then Jasper would again, the whole thing was like a giant game of dominoes that affected anyone within a mile of the house. We learnt that one the hard way.

Luckily, she and turned off the mind reading so me and Alice could start to plan my proposal. But we were careful, whenever we thought about it we made sure to think about Bella first, so that she would turn her head in response and then we would know that she was listening. We had everything planned for the big event and now all that I had to do was set everything up, and ask the question that could change my whole existence.

They were all to go hunting tonight, and I would set everything up and be ready to ask Bella when she came home tonight, earlier then everybody else who was going on an extended hunting trip for a few days. Bella knew this, but obviously didn't know that I was proposing. The old insecurities kept on popping up, what if she said no, what if she didn't want me, or to get married? What would I do if she said no? Would I keep on asking or demand a reason why? Would I nod glumly and spend the rest of the night in silence?

"Come on guys, I want to go now." Rosalie stomped from the second floor and grabbed Emmett's hand. She had a backpack over her right shoulder, which he promptly took from her a put on his right. So maybe he was a gentlemen, somewhere that was buried away from the rest of the world. Who knew that?

Carlisle and Esme appeared at the backdoor with their own backpack, as did Jasper and Alice. Carlisle was to start at the hospital the day after they came back, and used the excuse that he needed to be prepared for the smell of all of the human blood for the hunting trip. They all started to leave, silently wishing me luck with their thoughts.

"Are you sure that you don't want to come?" Bella questioned, looking hesitantly towards the door that our family had just went through.

"I'll go later, I have some things that I need to take care of here." I squeezed her tightly again before planting a kiss on her plump lips again.

"Alright, well I'll see you in a few hours." I nodded at her and watched as she made her way to the door and then speed through the forest. I sighed, missing her already but knowing that she had to be gone for me to set this up. I had a quick shower, before running towards the car and speeding from the driveway. I made my way to the local florist, which was surprisingly good, to pick up my order.

"Ah, Mr. Cullen. Here to pick up the order I presume?" The elderly couple that owned this store had nearly had a heart attack when I told them that I wanted 100 red roses, and then 100 white roses. They had taken a while to get here, but I already knew how long everything would take because of Alice. Mr. Rodgers, or Bill as he had told me to call him, helped me to put them all in my car. "She must be one lucky lady for you to go to all of this trouble." He nodded appreciatively, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"No sir, the lucky one is me, I'm just trying to make up some." I nodded at him while he slapped my back, mentally wincing at the pain that that action caused to his hand.

Oops.

"Well now that's the spirit isn't it?" He chuckled. "Good luck Mr. Cullen." He nodded at me as he walked back to his store, thinking about his wife and their 'younger years'. I wonder what his reaction would be if I told him that I wasn't just some kid and that I had been there for those years that he thought so fondly of?

I raced back to the house, thanking God that that had only taken about an hour, and I would still have enough time. When I got to the house I raced the roses up to my room and proceeded to pick each petal off of the steams, scattering them on the bed. Even with vampire speed, this still took about another half an hour. Sighing and running my hands through my hair, I got all of the candles that Alice had got for me whilst I kept Bella occupied. I set them up around the room and took another shower, wanting to get rid of any smell of the humans that I had met today. Best not to tempt the new born right?

I got the ring from the carved wooden box on the nightstand, petting it thoughtfully and trying to think of its former owner. The ring had belonged to my mother, it was the ring that my dad had given to her on their wedding day and she had always commented that she would love it if I gave this to the woman that I wed. I had always nodded to appease her, not sure if I would ever get the chance to find a woman that I could love. I had stayed in that mindset until I had met my Bella. I had wanted to ask her for her hand long before now, long before I left even but had always thought that doing so would be unfair to her. I had still been unsure what to do, to change her, to leave her or to stay with her until she sent me away. If I where to marry her she would expect to be changed and there would have been a higher chance to me of biting her. Looking back on those days now, I can hardly believe what I was so worried about. She wanted this life, she enjoyed it and she clearly had a soul. Something as pure as Bella had to have a soul, saying that she didn't was stupid, much like I had been

Back then, I had almost regretted the rings presence, as it made me think of all of these things. But now I couldn't be happier that Carlisle had thought to take garment off of her hand before he left her. The ring would finally be back where it belonged, on the finger of a beautiful woman. My mother would be proud, and I know that she would have loved Bella. I was ready.

At least, I thought that I was ready. But when I saw her running towards the house I started to panic again. I quickly lit all of the candles and noticed that there was no scent of blood. Alice must have given her spare clothes, because Bella was still quite a messy eater. She stopped on the other side of the door and I fingered the ring in my pocket, twisting and turning it in a nervous gesture, feeling the texture of the long opal on my marble like skin.

She opened the door, slowly, maybe confused as to the scent? Granted, suddenly smelling two hundred flowers from your bedroom would confuse anyone right? She gasped as she took in the sight before her, her startling red eyes widening as she spotted the roses, candles and me standing just in front of the thick oak door.

"Edward?" My name slipped off her tongue like butter but sounded like a question.

"Bella." I couldn't help but smile her favorite smile at her as I held out my hand for her to take. She did, and the electricity that flew through me every time that we touched came back full force and I knew that I was home, as I was everytime that we touched. I pulled her into the room, and she kicked the door closed behind her.

"What – " She asked, smiling at me now. "What's all this about?"

"Can't I put forth a little effort?" I teased her gently.

"Of course, but you didn't have to go to so much effort." She came closer, wrapping her thin arms around me and kissing me lightly.

"Do you like it?"

"I love it." She whispered.

"Good." I spoke against her lips, kissing her once more before pulling away, trying to laugh at her pout.

"Bella, I love you, so, so much. You know that right?" I asked her.

"Of course, I love you too." And then I knelt on one knee, and she froze.

"Anytime that we're not together, I miss you. Even if you're just in the next room. But when I am with you, I've never felt anything better. Just being in your presence brings me a joy that I never knew existed. You're what I need, Bella. Without you, there is no me. Before you, I was nothing. I was just a shell of a man just walking around and waiting for you. Everything that I have done and seen seems meaningless now because you weren't there with me. Now that I know what life is like with you, I could never go back to how I was without you . With you, I'm everything that I can be and more. With you I can do things and feel things that I never thought possible. With you I am a man again, not just a vampire. With you I have a soul. I want you to stay with me for the rest of our existences, will you do me the honor of being my wife?" I held my breath, hoping that she could see the truth in my words. Had I even told her that I knew that we had souls because of her? I wasn't sure, but she knew now. She hadn't said anything to me yet, still frozen looking at me with wide, bright eyes.

"You…."She stuttered breathlessly.

"Bella are you alright?"

"Yes." She whispered. 'Yes what?' I thought.

"Yes!" She smiled. Then she tackled me, peppering kisses all over my face before kissing me passionately on the lips, and I couldn't help but grin into the kiss. Even after all of this time, after everything that happened to us she still said yes to me.

"You'll marry me?" I asked her, needing to be sure.

"Of course!" I kissed her again, letting her feel everything. She moaned into my kiss, and only removed her lips from mine when she felt me slipping the ring onto her ring finger.

"It's beautiful." She muttered, not tearing her eyes away from the ring.

"It was my mother's wedding ring, she said that she wanted me to give it to the woman that I was to wed, and Carlisle took it before he left her. It's finally back where it belongs." She looked back up at me, unleashable tears glittering in her eyes. I kissed her again, not wanting to be separated from her in anyway.

In celebration of our engagement, we made slow, passionate love together – at first at least.

I really was turning into a horny teenager.


	17. Chapter 17 The Crest

Edward Point Of View -

Four days later the rest of the family came back home. I could hear their thoughts before anything else, Alice warning me to get up and to get dressed, Emmett complaining about having to spend time with the newly mated couple. The change in his attitude towards my sex life was beyond humorous. Before Bella, and just after she had been changed, his thoughts were a constant stream of sexual innuendos and lewd suggestions, along with a few images of women that were meant to be Bella doing things that even this new Bella wouldn't do – and this new side of Bella was very open to suggestions.

"The family are back now."

"Does that mean that we have to get up?" She said, her voice was muted against the marble skin of my chest.

"Yes."

"I'm comfy like this though."

"As am I, but the rest family wants to talk to you." I stood up on the bed, letting her wrap her arms around my shoulders and her legs around my waist, trying to ignore how good that felt.

"To me, not us?" She looked up from my shoulder.

"Mostly you." I nodded at her. "And don't read their thoughts." I added as an after thought. She pouted at me but released her hold on me none the less. She walked from me, swaying her hips and bending over to get her clothes. I groaned.

"What?" She said, getting dressed in a light blue shirt and a pair of loose fitting white pants. I grumbled something that didn't make sense, even to me, about unfair fiancé's and family meetings. She giggled at me, obviously enjoying my pain. I got dressed quickly as the family were already down stairs and waiting for us, all except for Carlisle who was rummaging around the draws in his office.

"Carlisle is so excited." She tilted her head to the side, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the door. Her curiosity was getting the best of her, and I hoped that she would be better at excepting gifts, and more lenient towards surprises. "And you're feeling hopeful." I smirked at her. "Seriously what's going on?"

"You'll just have to wait to find out." We made our way to the dinning room where everybody was already seated. We took our seats on the right side of Carlisle, who was sitting at the top of the table.

"Congratulations!" Alice squealed, bouncing in her seat. The rest of the family congratulated us and hugged us, and I silently wondered why they had all sat if they were planning on doing this.

"So, did you have a good few days." Rosalie asked slyly, something that Bella probably would have expected from Emmett, what she hadn't realized was that Rosalie was just as bad as Emmett most of the time. Sometimes, like she had been recently, she was even worse. I know for a fact that Rosalie and Alice had cornered Bella on more than one occasion asking for details on our sex life, and Bella had given in surprisingly easy, something that embarrassed me more then her – that wasm a first.

"Yes we did actually." Bella replied, no embarrassment on her face but I could still detect a hint in her eyes. If she had still been a human, that light pink blush would have spotted her delicate little cheeks. Rosalie chuckled throatily, sharing a glance with Alice and started to sing a Beatles song in her head. Alice was doing the same, but with 'Sally's Song' by Fiona Apple off of the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack. She had an odd obsession with that movie.

"Anyway, we have a bit of a surprise for you." Esme interrupted, obviously not enjoying hearing about her children's private activities.

"Surprise?" Bella asked, looking between the two adults nervously.

"You know that you're a part of our family, Bella dear, you have been for such a long time." Carlisle said, and our siblings nodded along with his words.

"Since the time that Edward bought you home." Esme chirped in, placing her hand onto of Bella's. Bella smiled sweetly, and I knew that she would be tearing up if she could.

"Thankyou." She replied.

"Esme and I had this made months ago, we had intended to give it to you on your eighteenth birthday – "

"Without telling the rest of us, might I just add." Jasper interrupted. He couldn't stand being left out of plans.

"So we decided that now was as good a time as any." Carlisle continued on. He pulled the little velvet box off of his lap and put it on the table in front of her.

She looked up at him, obviously not knowing what could be inside apart from jewellry. Hesitantly, she reached her hand towards the box and pulled it towards her. She lifted the lid and gasped, her scarlet eyes going wide and her mouth opening in shock just a little but. I squeezed her thigh with my hand and let it rest there. She lift one of her hands and lightly carresed the crest, either still unsure about her strength or in shock, possibly a combination of the two.

"I – wow, just……..wow." She stuttered.

"Do you like it?" Esme asked nervously but excitedly.

Bella nodded slowly, taking her eyes off of the crest and looking up at her second mother. "I love it."

She stood up and hugged our two parents, whispering words that I could not hear.

"See, I told you that you were a part of the family!!" Alice bounded up from her spot at the table to hug Bella. Esme took the necklace from the box and handed it to Carlisle. Bella swept her over her back and over her shoulder and Carlisle put his hands over her shoulders, standing behind her and then brought the ends of the chain together. He clasped them together and then kissed Bella on the cheek. She turned around to hug him, holding on tightly before hugging Esme again and then the rest of our siblings, who had gotten up again to 'welcome her'. She saved me for last, winding her arms around my neck and getting up on her tippy toes to reach me lips. She kissed me lightly for a few moments, not wanting to make anyone uncomfortable with our now usually much more extravagant publics displays of affection. I smiled against her lips and sighed in contempt when she pulled away, but missed still soft lips on mine almost instantly. I couldn't get enough of her. I had had four uninterrupted days with her and already I was feeling the need to whisk her back upstairs. I was contemplating suggesting that we get our own place, not far from here of course, but far enough away so that the family couldn't hear what happened between the two of us.

_Just wait a few weeks before you go Edward, she wants just a little while longer to reconnect with everybody, but she gets uncomfortable knowing that everybody hears everything too. Jasper told me._

I smiled appreciatively at Alice. Sometimes it was like she as the mind reader.

_You are thinking that I am like a mind reader now aren't you?_

My eyes widened and she giggled, causing Esme to look at her questioningly before slowly turning her head back towards Bella, who had turned in my arms to talk to her. I nuzzled my head into Bella's hair, feeling completely blessed and being surprisingly unbothered by Emmett's remarks on how he hadn't seen me like this before, and how obviously all that I needed was to get laid. Obviously the old Emmett was resurfacing. Oh joy.

"We thought that you might like the necklace at that size." Esme touched the crest on Bella softly. "It's not bold and doesn't attract too much attention like Rosalie's, and we didn't think that you'd like a chocker like Alice, hers is tiny and delicate and it suits her. We thought that this was the perfect size for you." Bella nodded. The necklaces that each of my sisters wore represented their personality quite well. Rosalie's was bold, ostentatious and couldn't be missed, much like her. She loved the attention that she got whenever she was around people, vampire or not. Alice's was tiny, delicate and still classy and fashionably, but not over the top, just like my perky little sister was.

"I love it Esme, I can't thankyou enough."

Esme laughed lightly. "Oh dear I think that you've got things the wrong way around. I should be thanking you, you completed the family." She leaned against Carlisle.

"But you all welcomed me." Bella countered. We continued to talk for a few more minutes, and at 4.30 each couple retreated to their room, looking for private time. I flopped on the couch and stretched my above my head.

"Did you know that they were going to give it to me?" Bella asked from the doorway. I looked up at her and she walked towards me, laying on top of me and putting her hands under my head.

"Carlisle thought to me when you were changing that he had had it made, and that he wanted t give it to you when we got settled here. I think that he wanted to do that sooner, but decided to wait until after I had proposed."

"How long had you been planning to do that?" She popped her head up from my neck. You would think that we would have discussed this the past three or four days, but whilst there had been some wedding talk, coherent speech hadn't been our forte this past week.

"For sure, or before that?"

"Both."

"Well I had wanted to when we still lived in Forks, before your birthday even. But I knew that you were still so young and didn't want to take any opportunities away from you. At that point I still thought that changing you would be a bad thing, for you that is, and I thought that if we were to get married, then you would expect to get changed, even more than you already did. When we left I found myself wishing that I had proposed because than I probably wouldn't have left – or so I told myself at that time. If I had of come back earlier or grabbed you off the cliff, I would have still asked you very soon after that. Granted, I probably would of changed you anyway – if that was what you still wanted."

"Wow." She said after a brief pause. "I never suspected that you would ever want anything like that. Marriage never even occurred to me, to be honest I wasn't sure that I ever wanted to get married."

"Ever? Not even if I had of asked?" I tried not to let her see how much that hurt, but of course she did.

"Edward," She cupped my face gently. "I never thought of marriage because to me, marriage only led to heartbreak – or that's how I used to think. When I was growing up all that was shoved down my throat was 'don't get married, marriage ruins everything, wait at least until you're thirty'. Renee hated everything to do with the concept and that was something that I just picked up from her, it was probably the only thing that she was ever consistent about. I never thought about getting married to you, because to me, marriage and eternity aren't concepts that go together. If you had of asked and I had said no, that wouldn't have been because I didn't love you, I just didn't see the point."

That made sense, sort of. Her mother had always been very anti-marriage and Bella had mentioned that to me before. "Would you have said no?" She shrugged.

"I don't know. On one side I would have been afraid of what everybody thought, especially my parents. Renee would have been distraught, probably ashamed too. Charlie, well I could only imagine how he would react. I was never that girl, the one that got married straight from high school like she got knocked up or something. But then again, it's you." She shrugged again and I struggled to come to terms the rejection that was surging through me.

"Edward you know that I love you right?" I nodded. "And I said yes now, this is all just what if's, I probably would of said yes anyways. My love for you would have over come all of my fears about what other people thought. Besides, we are both adults, kinda, so what could they do?" She grinned.

"Kinda? You're eighteen and I'm 108, I think that it's safe to say that we are both adults." I was feeling better now. She said yes to the real me, and I just know that I would have gotten her hand even if she had remained human.

"Well yes but physically you are still seventeen, so you are still a teenager." She shrugged again.

"That's not fair!"

"Now who's touchy about age?" She rose an eyebrow. Alright, she had me there but a century of being called 'little brother ' by people that you were technically older than really got on somebody's nerves.

"Is that ironic because I always told you that age doesn't matter?"

"Yes."

"Well you don't constantly get picked on for being the youngest."

"But technically I am the youngest."

"But physically I am the youngest and Emmett enjoys teasing me about that. The fact that I will never, physically, be an adult never fails to amuse him greatly."

She giggled. "Well, sucks to be you – child."

"You are meant to be one my side!" I cried, outraged. That wasn't fair – I was technically 90 years older than her.

"Whatever, so what about this time, when did you start to really plan?"

"I decided that I was definitely going to ask the day that you took me back, but we really started to plan after you took off that mind reading. Otherwise everything would have been to difficult. I have a new found respect for the others and their ability to plan things without me knowing – I have absolutely no idea how they do that."

"Ohhh! Is that what you were planning that time that you were thinking about possibly needing to get the ring resized?" I nodded, I hadn't known that she had caught that. "I was wondering what you were thinking about – that makes so much more sense now." She laughed.

"So what do you want to do now?"

"Well…….." She trailed off suggestively.

"Please don't." Emmett said whilst he walked past the door.

"The door is closed, we don't interrupt you!" I called back.

"Bite me!"

"Carlisle already did!" Bella started to giggle a our banter, which consisted of a few more insults and technicalities and facts thrown about.

"You two are crazy!"

"You're not just figuring that out are you sweetheart?" I said lightly as I picked up a few strands of her hair and started to play with them. She laughed again before she started to trace the circles under my eyes.

"How long has it been since you hunted?" Too long.

"Dunno, maybe a few weeks. The last time that I went was that time that you found that grizzly, and that Emmett lost his shorts."

"Edward that was two and a half weeks ago! With everything that we've been doing you need to hunt more than that. I am a newborn and even I know that!" Her eyes were getting black again.

"Well than, I suggest a hunting trip. We can get back here tomorrow. There is this place about eight hours away from here that I want to take you too."

"Alright than." She hopped off me and went to the wardrobe, packing clothes into one of the backpacks that we had laying round there. It had become necessary for us to take extra clothes whenever we went hunting, even if it was only for a few hours.

"So where are we going?" She asked.

"North." I nodded at her.

"North." She saluted me and I laughed at her, taking her hand and leading her to the staircase.

"Going hunting!" I called, just so that the others knew, but I doubted that many of them were paying any attention to the two of us.

"So what game are we looking at?"

"Well, maybe a few mountain lions, maybe a few bears but still plenty of dear and elk."

"Ohh yumm." She grinned. We took of into a sprint as soon as we hit the back yard. We ran mostly in silence until we were about an hour away from where I wanted to get her.

"Hunt now?" She nodded, letting go of my hand and letting her instincts take over. I caught the scent of a grizzly bear to the north west and we ran off in that direction. She tackled the thing but I kept running, knowing that if I stopped to watch that we would never get to where I wanted us to get to. I attacked an elk and a smaller Grizzly before I was funny satisfied and turned back to find Bella. Getting to her wasn't hard, she was surrounded by two elk carcasses and was digging holes for them. She had gotten a lot better at remembering to do that but she still wasn't very clean. She had three large rips on her shirt exposing her stomach and the bottom of her breasts. Her hair was wild and she had blood and the side of her lips. I walked up to her and wrapped her up in my arms, licking the blood off of the side of her mouth before kissing her passionately.

"Mmmmm." She smiled. "How is it possible that you can hunt but not get dirty, that's not fair." She ran her hands up my chest and round my shoulders, I shuddered at the feeling of her hands on me.

"Feeling better now?" I asked her.

"Much, what about you?"

"Yes, the thirst is much more bearable now, thankyou for getting me up and getting me to hunt." I kissed her again, grazing my tongue over her top lip, sucking it into my mouth gently. She moaned in response.

"Come on, I want to get you to that place." I tugged on her hand.

"And you won't tell me what this place is?"

"Nope." I popped the 'p'.

"You know that I am still not that big of a fan of surprises." She grumbled.

"Oh I guessed as much."

"Yet you still won't tell your fiancé' what you're doing?" She purred. I shivered not only at the tone of her voice, but at her referring to herself as my fiancé. That title was a symbol of our love and our future together, as if her being a vampire wasn't enough.

"Still nope." I finally managed to reply. From her spot next to me I could see her start to pout but I started to run again. We had gotten closer during the hunt so before to long I stopped her, hearing the sounds of the lake flitter through the little stones.

I turned to look at her, seeing the confused expression on her face before she turned to look up at me. She gently tugged me forward, encouraging me to lead her.

I stepped past the bushes and trees that separated us from out destination and heard her gasp. I took in my surroundings, shocked that nearly nothing had changed. It had been almost a century since I was here last and it was nice to know that with all of the development in the world some places still stayed the same. The lake was about a mile wide and got narrower towards the end, turning into a little stream that, if you followed for a few more minutes, ran from a small waterfall. There were trees, rocks, logs and wild flowers every where. The serenity of this place had never failed to amaze me and I often found myself coming her to just think and to just relax when we lived here last. Towards the end of our stay here I had started to contemplate hunting the human race instead of the animals that Carlisle preferred.

I looked at her, taking in her features as she look around her and took in the lake.

"It's beautiful." She muttered, her voice as soft as the light wind that blew her chestnut hair round her pale face.

"This place pales in comparison to you my love."

She looked up at me then, putting her hand on my face and than leaning up slightly to kiss me. I met her halfway, savoring her feel and taste.

"You found this place the last time that you were here?"

"Yes, and it's exactly the same – look see that bouder there?" I pointed over her shoulder and she nodded after she had turned.

"That looks like a fist." She cocked her head to the side, stepping closer to inspect the damage done on the rock that was older than me, than the both of us out together.

"That is a fist Bella, that's my fist." I chuckled. She smiled over her shoulder at me, knowing how much I loved it when she did that. She sat up, exactly where I had been sitting when I made that fist and lightly caressed the hole.

"And what did that rock ever do to you?" She purred.

"I was angry and the rock was just……..there."

"What were you angry about?" She asked, all games forgotten and generally curious.

"I was still thinking about my diet and whether stick to Carlisle's diet was what I wanted to do. This was towards the end, when I was so close to snapping." I sat up next to her, throwing my arm round her shoulder.

"Oh."

"Bella?"

"I just hadn't expected that, that's all."

"Does it bother you, that I changed to the other diet for a time?" I asked her, worried and confused. She hadn't thought that this was an issue before.

"No, I get that now more than ever, I just didn't know how long you were thinking about doing that."

"Well, you know my tendency to over think things, and besides, this isn't a rash decision to make Bella. I had to really think about this, I was thinking about the options for at least a decade."

"That makes sense." She nodded against my shoulder, smiling lightly.

"Are you alright?" I asked her, using my other hand to life her chin up to look at me."

"Yer, I am fine."

"What's wrong?" I could tell that something was bothering her, behind the calm there was something swimming behind her eyes. She sighed.

"I was just thinking about some things, not a big deal."

I froze for a second, before trying to convince my muscles and emotions to relax. "Are you considering changing?" I asked her lightly, hoping that she wasn't. I couldn't let her go alone but I couldn't enforce this lifestyle on her. I could go with her, of course, but would she still want me if we had different diets? Plus. Could I handle the temptation of drinking human blood with Bella? The high from the blood of humans was much better than what you got with the animals, especially at first. Bella would be bound to go crazy, and afterwards……..

"No of course not, I was just wondering about what you would have wanted." I frowned against her hair. "If we could go back, would you have changed the way that things are now?" I frowned again but my eyes widened in surprise.

"Where did that come from?" I chuckled at her after I regained my bearings.

"I was just thinking about our conversation before and than started to think about what you could of wanted."

I carefully thought about what I would do if given the opportunity, to save her and keep her human instead her of hands being forced, of my mouth I should say. "Well, though I am very happy about how everything has happened, I do wish that you would have had more time as a human," She stiffened. "even if only for a few days."

"What do you mean?"

"I hate that you had to have the same ending as the rest of us. You had always wanted to be changed, and that was what I wanted too of course, even if I didn't let you know that. I had always thought that if I ever changed you that it wouldn't be because you had to be changed but that we would do it because we wanted to. I thought that everything would have been better planned. That you would get the opportunity to do everything that you wanted and that you could say goodbye to your friends and family and the life that you had as a human. I wanted so much better for you. But you got what the rest of us got, an emergency change because you would be dead if nothing was done."

"Edward," She whispered. "some more time as a human would have been great. I would have loved to say goodbye to everybody but what happened, the way that it happened, is fine. You doing what you did, changing me without even knowing if I still loved you – or me knowing that you still loved me – was the ultimate way of showing me that you did, in fact love me. I just know that if I hadn't of jumped, if I had of stayed home like I was supposed to and you just on the window and told me that you still loved me, that it would have taken a great deal of effort on both of our parts for me to be convinced that you still loved me. The fact that you changed me because you just couldn't let me die means so much to me – it lets me know that you really do want and need me."

I kissed her then, showing her everything that I could and letting her feel everything, my love, my lust, my need for her and my desperation to just be with her, to just be close to her. She pushed me back on the rock, straddling my waist and ground herself against me.

"New memories for the rock." She giggled.

**Hey thankyou for sticking with me through all of this. Thought most of these chapters have been pure fluff with very minimal plot ( there was a proposal and a visit to Charlie, not everything was pointless . ) but things will start to get more exciting soon. So keep reading! Plus I have no idea about American geography or what kind of animals are where or when they are in season or what – just that stuff ****Cut me some slack I live on the other side of the world lol. I've been so busy with all of the school work that I have been getting, plus I have been writing more chapters for the new boy. The next chapter should be up soon so Yay for that!!!. This chapter is a little longer and I'm sorry for hoow short everything has been, but I kind of lost the feel for this story, but the vibe is coming back, but that might just mean less of the new boy.**

**Also, I obviously do not own The Twilight series nor do I own any of the quotes from the books used in my fan fiction, even if they are changed slightly.**

**Keep reading - lots of love from Sarah .-;**


	18. Chapter 18 Phone Calls

So - short chapter and I was going to write more but I just love where this stops. This was written in two days with school friends assignments and the fact that I get distracted too easily.

Edward Point Of View –

About four o'clock the next afternoon Bella and I were running through the woods just near the house. Her engagement ring was sparkling in the light sunlight, just like she had been mere hours ago.

"_Do you need anything more to eat?" I had asked her, stepping from behind the tree that I was watching her from. The canopy was like a blanket overtop of up, but there were spots of sunlight on the soft light green grass. She looked up at me from the carcass of the deer that she had just consumed, wiping the blood from the corners of her mouth._

'_Let me do that.' I thought, grinning._

"_I think that I'm done, are we ready to go home yet?" She asked me, standing up and straightening her clothes. I nodded with conformation and grabbed her hand. I started to walk with her next to me when the wind started up. It blew the trees around us and let the sunlight filter through the thick trees. Her right arm caught the light and I stopped and stared, open mouthed at the beauty. _

_I had always hated the way that we looked in the direct sunlight, the sparkling of our skin made us even more alien, more inhuman then ever before. This was the one thing that we could never hide about ourselves, this was what stopped me from living in sunny places and from taking Bella to everywhere that she wanted to go. _

_But seeing her like that, seeing her skin shining like a diamond, and knowing that I had done that to her, for her, for us, was shocking. She was so beautiful, and she was mine._

"_Bella." I whispered, stroking her arm with my spare hand. She had seen what I was looking at by this point of time and was staring at my hand shimmering on her sparkling arm._

"_We finally match." She whispered, a breathtaking smile lighting up her face._

"_Yes!" I hissed. My possessive instinct - that had risen since we had started t make love, and had become harder to control, and had also been added to (now that I needed to claim her body also) – started to come up again and I grabbed her, kissing her until I couldn't think._

_After my boost of 'I need you', she had to run home in my shirt. She didn't have any left. _

"What are the others doing?" She asked me.

"Esme is planning the designs for the house. Jasper and Alice are gone, hunting I guess. Rose is in the garage with Emmett and Carlisle is on the phone, with Tanya I think, maybe Irina. "

"Who's that?"

"They are some of our family in Denali. They live with Kate, Carmen and Eleazar."

"Oh right. I remember now – isn't that where Laurent went after he left James?"

"Yes. He couldn't keep to the diet though."

"You really need to get over that whole Laurent thing."

"He tried to kill you after we let him go free."

"But he didn't."

"But he would have."

We sat on the couch, me wrapping my arms around her and returning Carlisle's wave.

"So you've got a newborn?" Carlisle said to Tanya.

"Yes his name is Riley, he's strange. He acts so shifty half of the time, but he is obviously a newborn. He isn't quite a year old yet but he is having so much trouble with the animal diet. You would think that he didn't even want to try – but can I just kick him out like that?"

"You're just pissed that he won't sleep with you." I heard Kate call from the background and Bella snorted.

Tanya sniffed. "He acts like he's mated half of the time honestly." She paused for a moment. "He was quite curious about you." She said quietly after a moment.

"What do you mean?" Carlisle asked.

"Well, he always seemed To know Laurent, we would often catch them talking and than as soon as one of us entered the room, they would stop. But Laurent was always asking questions about the family as well. After Laurent left Riley started to ask the questions. Irena was still pissed because Laurent left and she told him everything that he wanted to know. He knows about your powers and the mated couples and everything. He even knows where you live now because he asked Irena and I told her after I spoke to you last week."

"Why does he keep asking? Is he just curious or do you think that something else might just be going on?" Carlisle asked. I straightened up.

"Well that's the thing, he just left – the other day, two days I think that it was – he just up and left saying that he needed to meet up with an old friend. We think that he might just be meeting up with Laurent and Irena tried to follow him, but he got away."

"Tanya, Laurent isn't coming back."

"How do you know!" Irena said. She had gotten to phone off of Tanya.

"Because the werewolves at La Push killed Laurent."

There was silence on the other end of the phone. But then, "What?"

"He threatened Bella, Edward's Bella, and than the wolfs came and they got him. I would have told you earlier but I thought that you know."

"That girl let my mate get killed."

"She didn't let anybody get killed."

"This is her fault!" She screamed. I started to growl and Bella had stiffened.

"Hey, what are you – " I heard Kate but she was cut off by Irena's growl.

"I'll get her for that! She's the reason that my mate is dead!" I shot up and started growling louder than before, fighting the instinct to crouch into a defensive position. Nobody threatened my mate. "Oh shut up Edward!" I heard her scream. Bella got up and placed her arms around my waist from behind. Rosalie and Emmett came from the garage and looked curiously from me and Bella to Carlisle who looked worried on the phone.

"What's going on?" Emmett asked.

"Irena just found out that Laurent died." Bella said quietly.

"So?"

"Apparently they were mated and now she's angry."

"At Edward?" Bella shook her head.

"She's angry at Bella." Rosalie guessed. Bella nodded.

"But that's stupid why!?" Emmett looked confused.

"Because the wolfs were protecting me from him."

"They would have killed him anyways." Emmett shrugged. Irena was still screaming on the other end of the phone and her sisters couldn't stop her. Carlisle was holding the phone away from his ear.

"Irena!" I heard Carlisle yell, effectively stopping my growling and Irena's screaming – Carlisle almost never yelled. Esme came running from the study after hearing the commotion – I was shocked that she hadn't heard anything earlier.

"What's going on?" She mouthed and thought to me.

I just shook my head at her, knowing that I would have to explain everything to her and that I had missed on half of the conversation.

"I apologize for what happened but that is not Bella or Edward's or my families fault and I refuse to let you threaten them! I have to go but feel free to call us back when you have calmed." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well hope that this conversation won't damage our friendship with you." And then he hung up the phone.

We were all silent for a moment, but than Esme broke the tense silence. "What just happened?"

"Irena just discovered that Laurent was dead."

"But he had been gone for so long?"

"They just thought that he was traveling or something just like that. Apparently he had been asking all sorts of information about us just before he left."

This was wrong, and none of this made any sense. Why would he be asking about us? He had no reason to stay connected to us now. The game with James and Victoria had stopped –

Victoria.

Shit.

Sorry for the half-cliffy.


	19. Chapter 19 Learning

Edward Point Of View –

"Edward? Edward what's wrong?" I could hear her calling to me, her maledictions voice ringing in my ear.

"Victoria." Was all that I said, but I heard Esme gasp, Emmett asking what I was talking about and Carlisle's mind go blank for a few moments, before racing again, trying to connect the dots and discovering that they fit together all too well.

"What do you mean Victoria?" Rosalie asked.

"He's right, that all fits." Carlisle muttered.

"What all fits!?" Rosalie asked, not liking not knowing what was going on when there was a threat to her family.

"Victoria, she has to be behind this." I muttered. "When did you leave Denali?" I asked the room at large, not caring who answered, just as long as I got that answer, the one that would let this all fall into place.

"About a month before Bella was attacked." Carlisle said, already knowing what I was thinking.

"Wait, what happened on the phone?" Esme said, completely confused.

"I was talking to Tanya and she told me that after we left, Laurent was always asking questions about us, about what we were doing and our gifts and whatever, but then they were joined by another newborn male. He and Laurent seemed to know each other but always said that they only first met when Riley started to live with them. They would start to talk but than whenever somebody else entered the room, they would stop or start to talk about something else.

"A little while after Laurent left, Riley start to ask questions as well."

"So?" Rosalie asked.

"Laurent left the Denali's to hunt Bella." I said.

"No." We all turned to look at Bella. "Well, she didn't want him to kill me, she just wanted him to scout the area, to see if you were still there, if I was still there, if there was any protection or anything like that."

"She being Victoria?" Rosalie summarized and Carlisle nodded.

"So Laurent was working for Victoria." Rosalie said.

"And he had information on our family, information that he probably told Victoria." Carlisle commented.

"Victoria probably created Riley too, if she sent him to live with the Denali's and Laurent." I said, thinking out loud now. Bella rubbed her hand up my arm, soothing me.

"But why would she need two people?" Carlisle asked.

"She was worried about Laurent, he had left her and James once. If Riley acted like a mated vampire sometimes, than maybe Victoria tricked him onto thinking that they were in love, that way he would do her bidding and remain faithful to her. He would tell her about Laurent doing something wrong, Riley would tell Victoria anything." I said, starting to pace and dragging Bella by the hand with me.

"When Laurent was killed by the wolves," I continued. "Victoria needed to make sure that she had somebody to get her information, somebody with contact to us so that if anything happened, if anything changed than she would know. So that's why Riley had to stay."

"But they know where we are now. Irena told them." Carlisle muttered.

"What why did she tell them if they didn't trust him!" Rosalie screamed.

"Because they didn't know about all of that, they wouldn't expect a shifty newborn to be on Victoria's side."

"But Riley has left them now, riley probably continued on to find Victoria again because now they know where we are." I finished.

We were all silent.

"So they know where we are and that we have Bella – as a vampire. But what will they do?" Emmett had been pretty quiet through this whole thing.

"They might stop this -- they know that we have her and that she's one of us." Esme suggested hopefully.

"Victoria would never give up, this will make her much more careful – but she will still continue. She's been planning this for too long to give up. She was crazy." I said, Rosalie nodded with my words.

"Remember when we were protecting Charlie Esme? She was crazy and she always knew just when to get away." Esme frowned but mentally agreed with Her oldest daughter.

"That is what the wolves were saying, she always seemed to know the boundary line and when to escape, what way to run and when they were just getting to close to her. That's one of the main reasons that they started to go over the line, but even when they started to do that she always got away – they couldn't understand. "

"Bella you won't like this," Emmett started, "But I really do think that you should let Jasper and me teach you how to fight – not saying that that will happen, but if they are picking a fight I want you to be prepared." She stiffened in my arms and I growled, not sure if I was growling at Emmett, the idea of her fighting or the idea of her getting hurt by Victoria, or maybe just a mixture of the three. "Bro I know that you don't want her to be hurt, but she needs to be able to defend herself. Jasper can train her in combat, you know that he can. You know his history."

"I don't want her fighting." I growled.

"Baby, he's right." She touched my arm and my head whipped towards her.

"What?"

"I wanted to be able to defend myself if need be." I saw in her eyes what she didn't say out loud. She wanted to be able to protect me too, she was sick of always being the damsel in distress, she wanted to be 'superman' too. She didn't like being the liability. "This is my fault, and I don't want you to be worrying about me, I need to be able to fight if this comes to a fight. And I know that you need to know that you can leave my side for two minutes and I can be alright." She finished up.

She was right, but still.

"You shouldn't have to fight anyway."

"But just incase."

"We might just be able to defuse the situation." Carlisle said.

"Could we track her now, get her and this Riley before they start anything major." Emmett said, not bothering to think about how much trouble that I had trying to find her only a few months ago.

"That could work." Carlisle agreed.

"We would have to attack from each side so that they couldn't escape. And we need to hurry, as soon as we can. Just after Bella had learnt to fight. We need Alice to tell us what she can see."

"I can't see anything." Alice and Jasper were standing at the door way, how none of us had seen them get there was strange.

"What do you mean that you can't see anything?" Carlisle asked her.

"I mean that I can't see a thing, I can see three days ahead but that's all. After that everything is just a blur."

We were all silent again. Bella tuned into her mindreading again, I could tell because she started to stroke my hair again as I started to panic.

'Are you listening?' I though to her.

"Yes." She replied simply.

"Listening?" Carlisle asked and Bella nodded to him. He nodded back at her and smiled.

Alice started to replay the vision for us in her head, and I noticed the difference after the first few tries.

"But were still there." My words shocked every one.

"What?" Jasper asked.

"We're still a blur so nothing is clear, but we're not gone."

"But I still can't see!" Alice exclaimed.

"Se we're not dead?" Esme asked from Carlisle's side.

"Not that I can see, but I still don't know what will happen.

"Well," Esme said after a thoughtful pause. "At least we're not dead."


	20. Chapter 20 Victoria

Two days earlier.

Victoria Point Of View – -

Riley was due here any second. The little boy was wrapped round my finger, he had no idea what he was doing or why. The boy had had no idea about James until Tanya told him. I had to convince him that James and I weren't really mates but that we were brother and sister – a load of crap. I loved him so much.

But alas, the boy continued to do everything that I asked him to do. And yesterday he called me saying that he had news, that this was a big break. He told me that we didn't need to worry about the wolfs anymore.

I was waiting at Piedmont, a little town not to far away from Forks. Riley was bound to be here any minute, but I was still on high alert. Not that I expected any trouble. Those pesky wolves would be too far away from home to come up here, besides, they were too concentrated on their precious reservation. Pathetic humans – or half humans. They didn't matter to much, but they would probably be dead soon. If I had enough….resources…. left after this little game with The Cullens than I could come back to the wolfs, but they really weren't worth all of my effort.

I had been trying to plan my attack for months now, but after Laurent disappeared, and those dogs got involved, things got so much harder. But Riley said that he had some good news, apparently this was what would let us win, to get us that girl. I was thinking about killing the rest of his family too, leaving that stupid Edward boy to be by himself, much like I was. Maybe, after the wolf boy's I would go after his extended family, so that he really did have no one. That Tanya bitch was starting to piss me off, starting to obviously hit on Riley, I didn't love that little boy, but he was useful to me-he was a great strategic planner and he thought that he loved me, and that I loved him. I can't believe that Edward actually left that little human girl, Riley had told me how miserable that he was without her.

I could hear him start to approach now and I put on my 'riley' face. He thought that I missed him, and I tried to play the part. I had been an actress in my past life, I had stared in some of Shakespeare plays. I never had difficulty confusing this little boy.

"Victoria!" He smiled when he saw me and I tried to show just as much enthusiasm.

"Riley!" I threw myself at him, kissing him senseless.

"Baby, I missed you."

"And I you my love." I purred at him, watching his bright red eyes darken with his lust, it had been too long since he had gotten laid.

"I know what we need." He gripped me tighter round my waist, getting this out of the way.

"What did you discover?"

"They changed the girl, she's just like us now. The family had taken her back!"

"They got her back! Excellent, now they will all be together at once."

"They live at Ashland, at Columbia."

"Excellent Riley dear." I kissed him again. "Now we just need to set everything in motion.

"Are they ready yet, do we have enough?"

"No, we still need a few more, just to make sure. Jared and Amy are still controlling them though, everything should be alright."

"Do I have to go back to the others or can I stay with you."

"No, I need you to stay with me right now, we need to get back to the others."

I heard a growl, and my head whipped round towards the best. Then I saw them. The five beasts. The itch black one was leading them, the gray and the russet one on the left side of him and the other two on his right. They snarled and growled, but I caught a hint of triumph in their dark eyes, they obviously thought that they had me.

Riley hissed back at them, stepping in front of me to defend me and I took a moment to appreciate his bravery, he really was such a good fighter, such a good little boy. Yes, he would be rewarded greatly tonight.

"Come Riley, let's go." I grabbed his hand and sprinted in the opposite direction, towards the rocks. There were still a few miles to go but we were beating them. "We run until we get to the rocks. Don't hesitate or they might just get you – I think that they must be what killed Laurent." We kept on running hand in hand, dodging the tree's that would separate us until we got to the cliff faces. "Jump!" I screamed, letting go of his hand and flinging myself off of the cliff, spreading my hands towards the sides before putting them together to form an arrow. The dive broke the surface of the water, sending little ripples everywhere. Riley came just after me and we continued to swim after we had hit the water. We rose to the top to see them still there at the top, staring at us. We kept on swimming, speeding through the water. Riley was faster than me here, we had been on the swim team at his university. He was very fit, and I liked that. That made sex with him more enjoyable at least.

We kept on swimming for a few hours until we reached our base, Ironically, in the town of Victoria.

"We must hurry, I want to know what is going on."

"Yes dear." He grabbed my hand, not for a moment catching the longing in my eyes, but the longing for another hand holding my own.

We ran for a few miles north, towards the factory where everything was being set up. I could hear the banging, and the screaming of the few humans that were there.

"There are more? Did you know of this?"

"Of course I did Riley." I let my irritation slip through.

"Are you alright Victoria?" For such a smart boy, he could be so dense sometimes. But that was an added bonus to my plan. What would I do if he survived? I would probably just ditch the boy or maybe I could kill him. Though that would be a bit of a shame, the child was a nuisance but he had been quite useful to me and never really questioned my motives.

Amy, a pretty fifteen year old with golden hair that flowed just past her shoulders greeted us on the property boundaries.

She was very smart, I like her. This girl too, I knew that I could trust her. If she were to survive the attacks than I could start a coven with her – maybe.

"Any changes?"

"No Victoria, the one girl – that brunette that we got from that shopping center – she finished not to long ago. She is to bed fed soon, we were waiting for Jared to come back before she went. She seems to be quite shy, she took the news quite well but she hasn't spoken to anybody else."

"I can take things from here, you go and get the girl, let her hunt. You could go to baby, you deserve a great reward for all of your hard work." He nodded and kissed me quickly than ran off with Amy and that new girl that had just approached the front door. This was all going to work, I just knew.


	21. Chapter 21 Practice Makes Parfect

Edward Point Of View –

"We should leave." Carlisle's still calm voice broke the stony silence.

"But we just got here!" Rosalie cried. She hated moving, hated the changed.

"We cant let this woman continue to take us away from our homes." Emmett instantly agreed with his wife. He almost always agreed with her.

"We would have had to leave Forks anyway." Esme said.

"But still, I like it here." Emmett pouted.

"Carlisle's right though, we should go. We can't tell the Denali's where we are either. Irena is so mad at us that she would probably help Riley and Victoria." I said.

"That's a bit harsh Edward. She might be angry at us but she wouldn't do that." Carlisle never liked to think to bad of anybody, but Irena had always been a live wire. Of the Denali clan, she was the one that I always liked the least. She was arrogant and rude and never respected people's decisions.

"But she threatened Bella!"

"She was just angry" Bella said soothingly, running her fingers threw my hair.

I sighed, trying to fight the calm that she was putting on my but loosing. That just wasn't fair.

"I don't think that we just have to worry about Victoria though." We all turned to look at Alice. "I should be able to see her and her plans, but everything is still blurry. Not like somebody hasn't made a decision yet, but like somebody is blocking me."

"Maybe she has somebody on her team that can block your visions."

"Maybe, but I am not sure. Even without my visions I am fairly intuitive." She said slyly.

"We should still move. We have a house at St Lawrence Island in Alaska, we could go there, that's far away from here. Still close to the Denali's so they wouldn't suspect us, but far away enough so that they couldn't catch out scent. Plus, the house is on an Island." Carlisle said. We all nodded our acceptance. "Alright than, we leave tomorrow night."

I grabbed Bella's hand and pulled her off the couch and up to our room. Once we were there I shut the door and pulled her into my arms. I buried my head in her hair. She wrapped her arms round my waist.

"Why does this keep happening to us Bella? Why can't we just get our happy ending?" I groaned.

"We will, one day." She started to calm me again, and I couldn't resist. I wish that I could sleep. Just to escape the confines of reality for just a few hours, to wrap her up in my arms and to let the two of us dream together. I wanted to dream of her the way that she had dreamed of me for so long. "We just have to wait. After Victoria, there is nobody else that wants us dead. Irena is angry but she will calm soon enough and then she will remember that you guys are her family, everything will be alright." She started to stroke my hair again and I groaned in pleasure. That felt so good.

"She threatened you."

"She was angry at me."

"You didn't do anything wrong."

"Her mate was killed to protect me, I can see where she is coming from. Think of it this way. If we hunted humans and the wolfs killed me, you would be upset at that human right."

"Yes, but that's not the point."

"That's exactly the point."

"The way that she felt about Laurent isn't the same that I feel about you. They just had a fling, we have something permanent."

"But Tanya said that Irena was Laurent's mate."

"I think that Tanya was being sarcastic, you can never quite tell with her over the phone."

"Oh, well, there is a plus side."

"What?" I hoped that she had some good news, anything to make this better.

"I can control the empth thing now. I can turn the emotions off now!"

I was shocked, she had done that fast.

"Congratulations!" I said after a few moments. "When? How did you manage to do that that fast?"

"Just the other day, when everybody else was hunting. I just didn't get the chance to tell you. I found myself quite occupied with all the sex and the engagement." She rolled her eyes.

"Well done Bella." I swept her hair back and kissed her again.

"Alright, rabbits, Bella you ready to learn?" Jasper asked as he walked through the door. "Emmett told me that you wanted to learn how to fight. I think that this is a great idea just by the way. Plus if Edward is around when you are fighting – "

"I will always be near her when there is a fight." I growled.

"Right, so you can use the mindreading to help you. I think that you should learn to fight both ways though, just to be sure." _No offence man, I know that you will be there with her but I just want my little sister to be prepared._

I nodded to both his words and his thoughts.

"Also," Jasper continued. "With the empathetic gift, you can se that to your advantage too. You can make them drowsy or try and distract them with that. You can make them scared or panicked so that they get sloppy in their fighting. You can confuse them or make them thirsty."

Bella frowned, not liking the idea of using anybodies emotions against them.

"I know that that sounds horrible. But when you're involved in a kill-or-be-killed situation, you need to know what you can do." I growled.

Jasper sighed.

_Just to be safe. _Jasper thought directly at me, but I heard his next thought, quieter though. _Over protective pain in the ass._

I snorted. "Yer, like you're any different."

"Not the point."

Two hours later found Bella on her back, Emmett pinning her to the ground, Jasper shouting instructions to Bella and me growling, be restrained by Rosalie.

"Get off of her." I growled at Emmett.

"Dude, this is the whole point."

I started to struggle again and Esme came and stood in front of me.

"This is how she learns and you know that Emmett isn't really hurting her."

I nodded stiffly, but just because I knew that that was true didn't make this any easier.

Bella kicked Emmett off of her and he slammed into the nearest tree, shaking it. Rosalie tensed for a moment but then started to laugh after Emmett got up and started to growl playfully at Bella. She jumped back us and crouched, starting to circle Emmett. He copied her position and they slammed into each other. They were a mess of limbs and growls but suddenly, Bella was on top of him, straddling his torso and pinning his arms to the ground. He tried to jump off but she hit his chest in a flash, before pinning his arm back to the ground. He tired to kick her off but she just slid further down on his body and slid her legs under his and then squeezed them together, I growled at her new position.

Emmett chuckled – _Jealous?_

I just growled at him again. Emmett continued to struggle but no matter what my brother did, Emmett couldn't escape Bella's grasp.

"Are you readying Emmett's thoughts?" Jasper called over to Bella.

"No."

"Alright, good, now get up and try that again."

They sparred a few more times, Bella getting better and better each time that she tried. Eventually they moved onto Jasper, he beat Bella evey time for about an hour. But eventually, she managed to pin him, then position herself to behead him, than pin him again.

After that, they started on Emmett again, but allowed her to read his thoughts.

An hour later she was doing that with Jasper.

Then She tried to control their emotions and read there thoughts at the same time, and I must admit that seeing Emmett all jumpy and constantly looking over his shoulder as Bella expertly dogged her giant brothers moves was quite amusing.

"We should try fighting the mind reader." Emmett joked, pushing Bella towards me.

"No way." I said.

"Yer Emmett, you know what happened the last time." We had tried getting Bella to fight with me, but we were both to hesitant. After Emmett got her riled up, every time that she went to pounce on me I just let her, not even bothering to dodge her or counter attack, the instinct to protect her was too strong. She admitted that that was too hard and than we switched to Emmett.

"Well, but now she knows how to pin people properly. She could straddle him so that he can't kick her off." Emmett's mind flew back to when Bella had first managed pin him, the way that she had sat on him. I was about to growl at Emmett, again, but Bella responded with a cool retort before I got the chance too.

"No, we won't subject you to that, we'll go upstairs and do that." She shrugged at her brother, who was staring at her in shock, before grabbing my hand and leading me up the stairs. "That was fun." She giggled. I picked her up bridal style.

"So what was that about straddling?"

Three hours later Bella and I emerged from the room, satisfied for the moment and sporting goofy grins. Bella needed to go hunting and had agreed to use the empathetic gift for the afterwards activity.

"Where are you two going?" Rosalie asked.

"We're going to go hunting, we will probably meet up with the humans tomorrow if we are moving, just want to be prepared." I shrugged.

"I might come too, just not near you two." Emmett smirked.

"Nobodies going anywhere." A feral looking Jasper, a scared looking Alice and a stressed looking Carlisle ran threw the door.

"What's going on?" Esme asked them, coming to the living room from the study.

"We have guests." Carlisle told the room. The look on his face told us everything that we needed to know. This wasn't good.


	22. Chapter 22 How Could You?

Edward Point OF View –

"What happened? Who is here?" Esme asked her husband.

"The wolves found us."

"What!"

"The wolves?"

"But how could they do that!"

"I know, I know, but we all need to stay calm. They are probably very upset that we broke the treaty but who knows what they want to do."

"They broke the treaty first though, Jacob told me about you."

"I doubt that they will care about that Bella." Carlisle said calmly, trying to make her feel better.

"They will be looking for a fight, especially Paul. Maybe not Sam, Sam won't want to risk the pack and they have to do what he says, but Sam might think that they can take us."

"Do we out number them?" Emmett asked her. Again, everybody turned to look at Bella.

"Yes, as far as I know at least. The last time that we were there there were five of them."

"Would Sam really attack when we out number them by three?" Carlisle asked.

"I just don't know."

"We should all wait for them, together. To intimidate them, they need to know that we have more people and that we won't hesitate to attack them." We all nodded and went to the back door, lining up on the side that Carlisle walked to.

I could hear them now, Bella was right, there was still only five of them, but I didn't know who was who.

_Are you listening?_

"Yes, I'm listening," She grabbed my hand. I tried to step in front of her, but she wouldn't let me.

I needed to protect her. _Don't you understand how dangerous they can be!? _ I thought at her. She blanched for a moment, remembering something, before shrugging.

…_.can't believe that those leaches actually turned Bella…. _That was obviously Jacob, I would know that kids obscene thoughts anywhere. Those had frustrated me endlessly last year.

…_.they broke the treaty, but Jacob told Bella first, but just because we broke the thing doesn't mean that they can…._

"You were right about the treaty Carlisle, they don't care that Jacob broke it first, just because they did doesn't mean that we can." Bella said, upset that her plan of sorts had failed.

…_.can't wait to rip up some leaches, that other guy was fun…._

…_.is Jake really ready to see Bella like this? We all know what Jake felt for Bella…._

…_.They out number us, but what else are we supposed to do?...._

"The leader doesn't care that we our number them." I told Carlisle, who sighed in frustration. Esme squeezed his hand gently. We could all hear them approaching now, their giant paws thudding on the ground. They slowed as they reached the boundary of our property, and slowly emerged .

The giant black wolf, the leader obviously, came first. The wolf was pure black. Sam was flanked by Jacob and somebody named Paul. Paul was gray, but Jacob was a russet colour. His eyes immediately locked on my Bella. His thoughts were screaming in outrage that she had been changed. He started cursing her in his mind, unaware that she could hear what he was thinking.

I pulled her closer, trying to make sure that the wolf's words wouldn't hurt her.

Jared and Embry, I think that there names where, flanked the other two. Sam was the biggest, but Jacob wasn't too far behind him.

The 'children' of my family snarled, even Bella, but that was probably in response to the wolves thoughts. The wolves snarled back, showing their teeth.

Carlisle stepped forward and Esme started to follow him instinctively. He turned round to face her, communicating with his eyes that he wanted her to stay where she was.

_You, Edward, you can hear my thoughts? _Sam thought.

"How do you know that?"

_She told us._ I looked at Bella.

"You did?" I wasn't angry, just curious. She had told me that it had hurt her to talk about me.

"I don't know." She looked upset all the same, so I pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head. Jacob growled again, and I growled back, automatically going into a defensive crouch in front of her. Jacob leaned on his front paws, ready to pounce.

_Jacob Stop! _Sam's thought rang with authority and I knew that this was the voice of the alpha dog. _Just wait._

I still didn't leave my crouch.

_You obviously know why we are here. _Sam continued.

"Because the treaty was broken." Bella said, and the wolves seemed shocked that she, too, could read their thoughts. "But it was broken on two sides, may we remind you."

_Great, another mind reading leach, that's just what the world needs. _Paul thought.

_That doesn't matter, they changed another human. _Sam thought. Bella told the others what he had said, playing the part of the translator as I didn't seem to be in any condition to do so at the moment.

"She would have died anyways, she jumped off of one of the cliff's at La Push." Alice said.

"So that wasn't just a trap?" Bella said in response to the thought's.

"No." I said.

_This is all your fault leach. _Jacob thought, then started to show me pictures of Bella, Bella crying, Sam finding Bella after I had left her, Bella looking dead when she had first seen Jacob, Bella crying on the beach, Bella laughing and holding his hand, looking shocked. Picture after picture. Charlie telling Billy about Bella, near tears, as Jacob listened in, still as a human boy, Bella on the couch after she had been taken back to the house, the night that I had left, Charlie telling Billy that she screamed when she slept.

I gasped, falling from my crouch onto my knee's, pulling at my hair. "No." I gasped.

Bella crouched next to me, trying to get my hands away from my hair. She growled, a fierce, scary sound that shook me to the core, but in a different way then what you'd expect. She was glaring at her 'ex-best-friend', who had actually shrunk back a bit. His thoughts were blank.

"Stop!" She snarled, even though she knew that Jacob wasn't thinking anything anymore, she just wanted to make sure. She pulled me up to stand next to her, wrapping her arms round my waist. I did the same to her, pulling her so close that she probably was having difficulty breathing. I buried my nose in her hair.

I was such an idiot, to ever think that leaving her would be for the best, all that I did was make things worse for the both of us, and Charlie. She screamed in her sleep, she didn't eat, she looked dead. She could have passed for a vampire, she was so pale, with dark eyes and circles under her eyes. Of course, she had always had the beauty above that of a vampire, no matter how distressed that she looked.

_I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry Bella. I love you, please forgive me. _

"And you stop that too, I thought that we had gotten over this." She looked up at me. I nodded again.

_Still sorry. I love you._

"I love you too." She said smiling at me.

Jacob growled and I snarled at the pup.

"The point is, " Carlisle said. "That she would have died if we hadn't have done anything. Bella is Edward's mate, if she were to die the damage would have been permanent on him, he to would have died."

_And what's wrong with that? _Jacob thought.

"There is everything wrong with that Jacob Black!" Bella growled.

_On the plus side, know we know that we just need to kill one of each mated pair, that way the others will be all depressed and then off themselves. _Embry thought and we both growled at the implications that Embry was setting.

"What?" Emmett asked.

"They seem to think that if they just kill one mate from each pair, that the other mate will just kill themselves." Every member of the family growled at that, falling into defensive positions. Bella remained standing though.

"You can't let them do that Sam." She spoke directly at him, looking him square in the eyes. I didn't know where she was going with this one. "Vampire mating is like imprinting, maybe even more, because we live much longer than most humans, well, we're meant to. When we mate, we mate for life, there is no going back. Why do you think that Edward came back to change me? You don't just fall out of love, that doesn't happen Sam. Could you ever fall out of love with Emily?" The dog stiffened. "What if she died? What would you be like then, what would you do then?"

The dogs thoughts filled with pictures of a woman with three scares on the side of her face. She was quite pretty but the scares marred her features.

"Even worse, what if she died and you couldn't protect her, or failed at protecting her?" She asked. Sam whined.

_I would die without her._ He didn't like that he could see where she as going with this. _Maybe this is the wrong thing to do?_

"Don't do this to us, we won't come back to Forks, and we won't hunt any humans. There is no need to change anybody else. The treaty will remain intact, neither side will break it again and you can leave peacefully. Nobody needs to die, nobody needs to get hurt." I was amazed at her, she had somehow gotten us from growling and on the verge of fighting, to everybody standing (or crouching) still, thinking over her words. She was quite the peace keeper, I was so proud of her. She looked over at me, smiling brightly at my thoughts. I stood up and wrapped my arm round her waist. The other members of my family did the same, as a sort of peace offering.

_But Edward, you left her._

"She needed to be safe, I wasn't safe for her. Wouldn't you do anything to make sure that Emily was alright?" He nodded again

_Wait just a moment._ Sam turned and ran into the forest.

"Where is he going?" Carlisle said.

"Yer, and what's going on?" Emmett asked, frustrated. Rosalie nodded.

We shrugged.

"I think that he is phasing." Bella said. Embry nodded his giant wolf head. "Thankyou Embry." He smiled. Jacob growled at his friend.

Sam came walking from the woods as a human. He only had on cut off jeans but no shirt. There was a tattoo on the top of his arm, a symbol of the Quileute nation I assumed.

"You won't came back to Forks, or to our land?" He asked in a deep, husky voice.

"Never." Carlisle said.

"You won't change or bite anybody."

"No."

"If you ever do come back we will not hesitate to kill you."

We all nodded.

"Then we will leave in peace, the treaty is not broken."

"Thankyou." Carlisle said. He stepped up to meet Sam in the middle of the field and they shook hands.

"We will leave now, but remember our agreement." Sam nodded to us and then walked back to the forest. The others followed him.

"Well that went well." Jasper said.

"Yer! Go Bella!" Emmett cheered.

"How could you do this Bella!" Jacob Black's voice rang out threw the forest. We all turned to look at him. Jacob stomped onto the backyard and another one of the wolf's, Embry I think, followed him worriedly.

"What do you want Jacob?" Bella asked stonily. She was still upset at him.

"Why did you do this?!"

"I didn't do anything."

"You changed into a monster." We all growled at the pup. "You took That leach back!" He growled.

"I love him!"

"What about Charlie!"

"What do you mean?" She asked quietly.

"Don't you know how sad that he has been, have you even bothered to check up on him? You would probably kill him anyways!"

"We do know how he is, we have checked up on him. Alice went and saw him. And I wouldn't kill him but Charlie can't see me, Charlie thinks that I am dead!"

"And you let him believe that!"

"What else was I going to do!? Hey Charlie, I'm home three days late, survived jumping off of a cliff I've got no broken bones, red eyes and, oh yer, I drink blood now. Just a warning. I wonder how he would react to that! Not to mention that I would get killed because I told a human."

"Well that's good, I would prefer that you where dead compared to this!" He gestured to her body. The family growled. I crouched, ready to attack Jacob before Bella put her hands on my shoulder.

"Well that's nice, to bad that what you think about me doesn't matter anymore. You can go now Jacob." Bella said coolly.

Jacob looked shocked, unable to comprehend what she had just said. He knew of the hold that he had on her, that she leaned on him, and he had used that to his advantage to many times. He was surprised that she was fighting back.

Jacob Black snarled at her one more time before turning round and stomping from our lives.

_Sorry vampire girl._ Embry thought.


	23. Chapter 23 Well That Was Interesting

Edward Point Of View –

"Well, that was interesting." Emmett said after a few moments of tense silence. I rolled my eyes and looked at him, giving him at look that said _seriously? _That had been more than just _interesting_. No only had Bella just gained us the wolves forgiveness for changing her, but she had done so calmly and had gained the respect of the alpha wolf. She had prevented more then one fight, stood up to her ex-best-friend and kept me relaxed al the while. Yes, that was far more than just _interesting._

Sadly I would never be able to take her back to the meadow, but we would be able to find somewhere special everywhere that we went, as long as we were together.

"At least that is one less thing to worry about," Carlisle said cheerfully. "and great job Bella!"

There was a chorus of cheers from the family, showing their support in Bella. She looked away, hiding behind the curtain of her hair. She would be blushing if she were human, I would miss that. I gently pulled her into my arms and smiled against her hair, thinking of how proud I was of her, just incase she could still hear me. She smiled up at me and I had my answer.

"Can you believe that guys nerve?" Rosalie said, fuming.

"Who, Sam?" Esme asked curiously.

"No, Jacob! How dare he try to make her feel bad about what she is and about Charlie! What does he know?" She threw her hands up in the air and Emmett started to comfort her.

"It's alright Rose, we're never going to see Jacob again anyway." Bella smiled, trying to sooth her sister.

"That's not the point." She grumbled.

"It's alright Rosie." Emmett consoled quietly.

"Wait, Alice?" Bella said, standing up straighter and gaining everybody's attention, even Rosalie and Emmett looked up from each other. "Do you think that the wolves are what were blocking your visions? I mean, I was with them all the time when I was a human, that would explain why you had difficulty seeing me after you left." Realization dawned on Alice's features, meanwhile, I was still reeling about something else that she had said.

"Wait, Alice, you were looking for Bella after we left? I thought that I told you not to do that!" Needless to say that I was completely ignored by the girls, only Jasper spared me a smirk.

"That would make sense! Wait, about what time did you start to spend time with them?" Alice was getting excited, happy to be solving the mystery of her lapse in sight.

"January, February, sometime about then." Bella nodded thoughtfully, trying to remember.

"Well that was when I lost you, for the most part." Alice squealed. "Bella you're a genius!" Bella looked as if she would be blushing again if she could.

"Why were you looking for her Alice?" I said sternly.

"Because she is my best friend! I had to make sure that she didn't get into an accident."

"But I told you not to look!"

"Why didn't you want her to look?" Bella questioned.

"Because I thought that we had interfered enough, and we that needed to leave you alone." Bella scowled at my explanation. "I thought that that was the best thing to do." I cupped her cheek.

"I know." She sighed, leaning into my hand and letting her eyes flutter close.

"Well, the important thing is that because of my inabilities to see the wolf's, we couldn't see when Bella was in trouble from Victoria."

"Thank God that you weren't near them when you jumped." Carlisle shuddered and I winced. We were all silent for a few moments before the voice of reason broke the comfortable silence. "We must start to pack, are you two still going to go hunting?"

"Alright." I nodded at the same time that Bella said –

"Wait!" We all looked at her again.

"Can you see anything now, about Victoria?" I looked at Bella, shocked at her wonderful mind.

Alice went still for a few moments, and I looked at her mind. Thee were still blank spots, she was somehow avoiding Alice's visions? But still, she was there. I growled at the sight of Victoria running with a blonde boy. They went to a warehouse, there were many other vampires there, they walked to another room and there were two human men laying on the ground there. They were changing.

"That will be enough, don't you think Riley?" Victoria said. She battered her eye lashes at the Riley boy.

"Yes Victoria, this has to be enough. Eight of them, but there are nineteen of us." The vision faded to black.

The three of us stood still in shock.

"Nineteen." Bella eventually gasped.

"We will need help." I agreed.

"Maybe the Denali's." Alice added.

"Do you think that Irena would come?" Bella asked.

"Maybe."

"I could ask the wolves." Alice and I stared at Bella.

"What!?"

"Well they wanted a go at Victoria, she killed on their lands, they would probably be willing to help us now."

"Wait, what is going on?" Carlisle asked.

"Victoria has created another newborn army." Jasper stiffened and Alice wrapped herself around him, trying to comfort her husband any way that she could. "They have nineteen, including Victoria and Riley I think." I told them.

"Well, if we move do they still attack?" Carlisle asked.

Alice's eyes blanked for a few moments. "No I don't see them attacking."

"Then we should still move."

"I agree with Bella." Jasper said. We all turned to look at him. "If they still find us, then we need to be prepared. The wolves are five more people that can help us, and they would probably be willing. We should ask for their help."

"But we don't know when there will be an attack." Esme said.

"We can get their phone number or something, but we need to hurry if we are going to catch up with them."

Bella was nodding along, and I looked at her. "You know them better than anybody else? Would they?"

"I think that they would, they were really upset that they could never get her – plus they are all so excited at the prospect of killing a vampire."

"But what if they try to kill one of us?" Rosalie said.

"Well, what if way stay here for now – "

"But then we get attacked."

"Hypothetically, just so that Alice can get a vision. If we stay here, what do you see Alice?"

Alice went blank for a moment, before she came back smiling. "They attack in four days time, I can't see the fight but at the end we are all still there, as are the Denali's, apart from Irena. There is smoke everywhere from where we have burnt the newborns. Only Rose and Bella are hurt."

"What!" Emmett and I yelped.

"Just a scratch or two, they were already mostly healed." Alice shrugged.

"No."

"At least nobody died." Alice reminded me.

"Should we stay here then, to eliminate the threat?" Rosalie said. We all looked to Carlisle. He looked at each of our faces, thoughtfully before nodded.

"I think that we should stay, but we vote first."

If we stayed, Bella could get hurt, but not killed. Also, she may get upset by Jacob. But if we waited, Victoria would be a threat that would constantly be hanging over our heads.

"Who thinks that we should go?" Carlisle asked, nobody answered.

"Who thinks that we should stay?" Carlisle asked, we all put our hands up.

"Alright then, we stay. Now lets go and get the wolves." We nodded and took off north, towards the wolves. Thankfully, the conversation had only taken about twenty minutes, so after forty we managed to catch up to the wolves.

"Sam!" I called towards the wolves. They had heard us and were starting to slow, they were still cautious. We stopped at a little clearing. The wolves were all facing us, curious though. They did not appear to see us as a threat, except Jacob.

_What do you want? _Sam thought to me and Bella.

"You remember me telling you about Victoria? That she was after me."

_Of course_

"Well, we know where she is, she is coming here with a new born army, we want to know if you will help us get rid of them."

Sam's mind went blank for a moment before the thoughts of the pack started to bombard us.

_Are they serious?_

_A trick._

_They want us to help them to kill some leaches! Oh yer! Let us! Please!_

_They can not be trusted, besides, they could turn on us, mind you ripping them apart wouldn't be so bad._

_What do you mean? _Sam thought.

"Victoria is coming here with a boy named Riley and seventeen other newborns. They will be here in four days time. We can't take them all and I knew that you were upset that you didn't catch her before. We are also getting help from another four that are also 'vegetarian', Alice has had a vision that we and the Denali's are all alright, but she can't see you. We are assuming that you had already left." Bella explained.

"You had to all be alright because I didn't see any blood on the ground and we wouldn't be that happy if you and your tribe had died." Alice chirped.

_Sure sure._

_I think that we should, we deserve this, she has killed on our land. _Sam thought.

_Agreed!_

_Why not._

_I want me some vampire, I can't wait. I dibs that blonde guy that we saw the other day!_

_Paul you don't have enough control for that, you will just go after anything._

_Shut up Embry._

_Whatever._

"What blonde guy did you see the other day?" I asked the grey one, Paul I think.

_Victoria and some blonde guy were_ _Piedmont, we ran after them but they jumped to the water and we lost them._

Paul showed me them, and there was Riley, protecting Victoria.

I growled.

"They are thinking about Riley, and that fits, they saw them right after Riley ran from the Denali's."

Rosalie growled.

"So you will help us?" Bella asked them.

_Yes. What time do they attack?_

"Midday, four days from now."

_We will be here midnight, going on to the forth day._

"What directing do the come from Alice?" I asked my sister.

"North west."

_Well then, the tribe will be sure to go and come back north east, that way they will not catch the scent._

"Great!" Bella beamed.

_We will see you then. _They nodded then ran off.

"They will be here midnight the day before." I told the family.

"Excellent." Carlisle said.

"So now what?" Bella asked them.

"We prepare." Carlisle told her.


	24. Chapter 24 Hunting Can Wait

So this is my new chapter, sorry for the delay. Yes, this is the lemon though I have no idea how good this is. Reading them is fine but I don't think that I ever really appreciated how hard writing a lemon is. Also, on another notw, In about a month I will be away over seas for a month so there will be no updates for a month. I will post whatever I can before then but I ahve so much school work and shut down comming up so my writing time is limited. But anyway, enjoy! Thankyou to all of the reviewers and please keep it up! Edward Point Of View –

The next three days were full on preparation, training and me trying to steal Bella away but not completely succeeding. At all. I was growing disgruntled with my lack of Bella time. I missed her, and not just the sex with her, but being around her, just the two of us – not planning, not training, just being us. As a result, my mood was even worse than when I had found out that Victoria was after us, and coming with an army of newborn vampires – I just wasn't as angry.

We had called the Denali's and they were all coming, except for Irena, who was still disappearing for a few days at a time. Tanya, Kate, Eleazar and Carmen were all coming to help us, bringing our total up to seventeen. We could take them. But I was still cautious, I was desperate to make sure that Alice's vision that a hurt Rosalie and Bella didn't happen, even if I got hurt instead, there was no comparison. Bella must stay safe. I walked up to the room, running my fingers through my already tousled hair. I hadn't changed my clothes for two days and they were dirty from the almost constant action, with dirt on the knees and a spot of mud on the shirt top.

"Hey." Bella said quietly as she walked through the door. I turned to look at her, letting my hands rest on her as she wrapped her arms round my waist, standing with her stomach against my back.

"Hey."

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, just stressed. I miss you." I muttered, turning my head round and talking against her hair.

"I don't like not spending tome together." Obviously she had been suffering like I had, though she was better at hiding this. She was always better at hiding her emotions if you asked me. I dragged her to the bed after me and sat her on my lap, facing me with her knees on either side of my lap. I leaned my forehead against hers.

"Everything will be alright, soon this will be over, we will have no more threats and then we can just be us again. We can go live somewhere else, just the two of us, if you want to." Could she hear the longing for that in my voice? If I was being completely honest I didn't just want our own house because I wanted our privacy, but also, I wanted it to be ours, just ours. People in couples, in serious relationships, got houses together. I wanted that symbolism, that mark on her that made her mine, so that people knew that we were together. And maybe that was stupid, none of the humans would ever know that we were living together, and most of the time we would have to pretend to be ' boyfriend and girlfriend ' again, but still, I grew up in an 'old fashioned' society, and this was what I wanted to make things official, even more official.

Her eyes softened when she responded. "You know what, I think that I would like that." She smiled lightly. "We could live near the others, but still far enough away that we could have privacy."

I nodded, loving where she was going with this. "When?"

"Well, I assume that the wedding will be soon?" She asked me shyly. I sat up a bit straighter, overjoyed that she wanted me as soon as she could.

"Whenever your ready."

"We could move just after that. Because I can't really go anywhere near the humans that can be our honeymoon." She grinned, not looking at all upset that I couldn't take her anywhere and spoil her. She probably enjoyed that part. I was slightly upset that I wouldn't be able to do something extravagant, but that would have to wait. I could, and would, make a big deal out of our wedding night, and the honeymoon that would probably last about a decade. Isle Esme was always another option at least for a little while, but we would have to get a jet, or at least hire one.

"I'd love that." I leaned in to kiss her, already starting to plan. She quickly deepened this kiss and I didn't fight her, even if I hadn't intended this to be the start of anything. She moaned into my mouth and pushed me back on the bed.

_Finally!_

"But what about the others?" I murmured into her mouth, gripping her hair so that she couldn't get away, not that she was trying to.

"I bribed Alice, we have some time."

"Excellent." Not everyone could get away with bribing Alice. I sat her up and pulled off her shirt, marveling at the expanse of pale skin. Even after all of this time, I couldn't help but to continue to be completely dumbstruck at what I saw. Her waist was tiny with prominent hip bones, I could make out her rips because of the amount of weight that she had lost when I was absent, leading up to her round breasts. She was the definition of beautiful. There just weren't enough words.

I didn't realize that I had been staring until she started to run her little fingers up my chest. I quickly snapped out of my haze and reached my hands up behind her to unclasp her bra, moaning at the sight of her bare chest.

"Bella." I sighed wistfully, taking one of her peeks into my mouth. She moaned and gripped my hair, trapping me were I was, not that I was complaining. When we had as much time that we wanted to ourselves I was going to dedicate days to just her breasts, if she would let me. I swirled my tongue around her hard nipple, biting softly and letting her feel the effects of the venom. We had been quite pleased to realize that the venom had a peculiar effect on or skin, and even more so in her more delicate flesh. The venom made a strange tingling sensation, like something soft brushing up against your skin but erotic.

"Edward, please….more….oh." She gasped, her done was husky. I leaned back on the bed and turned so that she was on her back. I started to kiss my way down her chest, over her stomach and to the pants, which I removed whilst placing light kisses on her. "Edward!" The rest of her clothing was gone before I realized what I had done and mine followed. I raised myself up further and kissed her with all of my love. We weren't just screwing. I looked at her intently, silently asking her if this was alright, I would never take her if it wasn't what she wanted. She smiled softly and kissed me lightly, seeming to say 'I love you' in her simply but sweet actions.

I thrust into her gently, moaning loudly at the feel of her around me, soft and warm and wet and tight. Oh, she was so tight. "Bella, fuck." I groaned, she moaned into my mouth as I kissed her again. I let her taste my lips, she sucked the top one into her mouth and ran the tip of her tongue over it, sending shoots straight to my groin. I started to thrust faster, gripping her tight to me and breathing in her scent. 'I love you, I love you, I love you!' I thought.

"Oh I love you too baby." She said back to me. Had I thought my words or spoken them? Was she listening to me? "Yes. I love hearing you when you are like this."

'I want to be able to hear you.' I thought to her. I had thought about hearing her thoughts, obviously. But the thought of hearing her like this nearly pushed me over the edge.

"Nothing much happens, I am reduced to two syllable words." I kissed her, shoving my tongue into her mouth and feeling free to explore, knowing that I would not hurt her. I could feel it approaching, my climax building up in me and tightening the muscles in my stomach. I could tell that she was too. Her mouth was open and twisted with pleasure, softly moaning and pulling at my hair.

"Bella," I moaned. "come with me." I reached my hands towards her but of nerves, rubbing her clitoris with my thumb. I felt her walls contracting round my length. She was so close. I rubbed her faster, knowing that at this rate I was not going to last.

"Yes!" She screamed her pleasure. "Edward! Yes, Edward!" I roared as I hit my max, spilling into her, my thrusting out of control. I collapsed on top of her, absolutely spent and panting for breath.

"Mmmmm." She nuzzled her nose into my neck. "We definitely need more time together."

"Definitely." I rolled over so that she was on my chest and started to play with a stray piece of her hair. After a few minutes in comfortable silence I said, "We better go hunting, the fight is in less than a day and we want our full strength." She sighed but knew that I was right. She got up, whimpering at the loss of me inside of her, and stood up to go and get some clothes. I saw her naked form and moaned, my arousal springing happily to life, and I was almost instantly rock hard. She bent over at the waist to get the material of her pants on the ground and I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her on top of me. "Hunting can wait."


	25. Chapter 25 Get Ready

Edward Point Of View. –

We stood, united, in the back yard of our new house. We were standing in a line, each of us next to our mates, ready to show them that we were not backing down. The grandfather clock in the parlor chimed midnight and the minds of the wolves became clearer to me. "They are close." I told the family. Bella squeezed my hand, silently showing her support. Carlisle turned to nod at me, and then turned back to the forest. Emmett sighed, Rosalie leaned against his side.

They emerged slowly, regarding us with careful eyes. Jacob Black was working hard to conceal every thought that he could and I assumed that Sam had asked Jacob to be careful; obviously they didn't want to offend us.

Carlisle stepped forward and smiled kindly at the alpha wolf. "Sam, it is a pleasure to meet with you again. We trust that you and your pack have been well?"

_We have thankyou._ I repeated Sam's thoughts for Carlisle. I could tell that some of the other wolf's were getting restless, they wanted to know what they were about to be facing.

"Maybe this would be easier if you changed back to your human form. You must be hungry or thirsty, we have everything that you need in the house."

The wolves considered Carlisle's words for a few moments before they answered.

"We will sleep out here, but we agree that communication will be easier if we are in human form." I said in representation of Sam.

The wolves went to the forest to phase but were back moments later. They were all shirtless and most of them were scowling. Sam had a neutral expression on his face but Jacob Black would not look at any of us.

"Lets go inside." Carlisle said politely. I could see that he was excited at the prospect of strengthening the relationship between the two families.

Sam, Jared and Embry all sat on the couch and Jacob and Paul stood behind them. The first three seemed the most accepting at being here. Carlisle, Esme and Jasper with Alice on his la sat on the other couch, Emmett and Rosalie on the love seat and I sat with Bella on my lap on one of the arm chairs. I did not want to let go of her now, more than usual, with Jacob around. Alright, not just Jacob but all of the wolves, but mostly Jacob. Jacob could hurt Bella with words and thoughts as well as physically. I was not stupid, I knew how much she had relied on Jacob whilst I was gone and the fact that he would rather her dead hurt her. But Bella was so strong, she would not let Jacob's thought affect her so greatly.

"The same amount of newborns is coming." Alice said brightly after no one spoke for a few moments. The wolves all turned to look at her and Jasper pulled her closer to him. He was as protective of Alice as I was of Bella.

"What else can you see?" Embry asked her, generally curious about her visions in general.

"I do not see the fight, but only the outcome. I see no blood so I assume that none of the pack are harmed. The only members of our coven that are injured are Edward and Emmett." Bella looked at me curiously, and somewhat angryily.

"What?" I asked Bella.

"Rose and I were the ones that got hurt."

"You think that we would let that happen?" Emmett snorted and Rosalie glared.

"But now the two of you get hurt." Bella said worriedly.

"There are no serious injuries Bella honestly. I think that one of us gets bitten though. I can hear Carlisle say 'still stinging?'." Alice cocked her head to the side and her eyes glazed over.

Bella and I saw the vision run through her head.

Bella was sitting next to me, running her fingers through my hair and rubbing her hand over my arm, which had scratch marks. I could see Rosalie sitting next to Emmett and whispering in his ear, he was leaning his head on hers and had a peaceful expression on his face. I too could hear Carlisle say in a gentle voice 'still stinging?'

"So wither Jasper or Alice get bitten?" I said. Jasper stiffened and looked at his wife with alarm, before pulling her close still.

"What about Esme?" Bella asked. Carlisle had very much the same reaction tat Jasper did.

"No, Carlisle would be much more panicked if Esme that had been hurt." Alice said calmly.

"Hmmm." Said Bella thoughtfully.

"So what exactly are we facing here?" Sam asked after a moments silence.

"There are nineteen vampires coming, seventeen of those are newborns. They are unprepared to fight numbers likes ours. They are much stronger than most vampires. The only one here that will be able to match them for strength is Emmett." Jasper said, gesturing towards my other brother. The wolves looked at Emmett curiously, who grinned at them.

"They do not know that we are aware of their attack. They do not know that we help. I think that it would be best if you hid upwind of them, just at first, so that they are not deterred by your scent." Jasper said.

"They fight using their strength, not their skill. Have you ever attacked a vampire before?"

"Just that leech with the dreadlocks that tried to bite Bella." Paul said. I tensed at the mention of Laurent and Bella kissed my cheek sweetly.

"We can show you more if you want." Jasper said wearily. My brother was not sure if teaching the wolves how to fight with a vampire with a good thing or not but wanted to do anything possible to keep the family from danger.

The wolves all nodded eagerly and we made our way to the backyard. "Emmett come up here with me." Jasper gestured and Emmett bounded up in front of the crowed grinning like a little child.

"Emmett attacks like a newborn more than the rest of us."

"Hey!"

"Only because you use your strength so much. Try to attack me."

Jasper and Emmett spread out and started to circle each other in their crouches. Emmett flew at Jasper, arms out stretched and flew into his side, pinning him to the ground.

"Easy." Emmett grinned.

"Yer, yer, I let you do that. Do not get to used to winning." Jasper said as the two of them got up.

"Now, that is most likely how the newborns will attack. Whatever you do, do not let them get their arms round ya'." The wolves all nodded. Jasper proceeded to show them extensively how to attack the newborn vampires and even got the wolves to phase back to their wolf form to attack. Alice protested that greatly because she could not see the outcome but eventually Jasper managed to sooth her. Needless to say by the end of the lesson they were all very excited about what would happen in just eight hours.

They decided to hunt in wolf form and headed east, whilst we headed west. We split up into our mated pairs and Bella and I got lucky. We caught the scent of some wolves and ran after them. I tried not to look at her whilst she hunted but I couldn't not. She sensed my lust using my gift gladly helped me get rid of that situation before we both returned to the house, satiated in more ways than one. I couldn't wait till this was over though, I was more than willing to find a house to live in with Bella, and I wanted to marry her soon.

We ran back to the house and met everybody there. The wolves were back in their human form and everybody was sitting in a circle on the lawn discussing last minute tactics. Some of the wolves were actively discussing, though Jacob still would not allow any of the vampires to go near him. Jacob glared at Bella and I as we walked towards them smelling strongly of each other. Obviously, they were all aware of what we had just been doing, and if they weren't, they would be soon. Emmett wolf whistled at us.

"I was wondering what was taking the two of you so long, but I guess that now we know." He grinned at me. Embry fought a smile and Paul fist bumped Emmett, roaring with laughter.

Immature assholes.

"How much longer do we have?" I asked them as Bella and I sat next to my mother.

"About an hour." Esme answered.

"And where exactly are Tanya and the others?"

"Right here Edward!" I heard somebody call from behind me. We all turned our head to the direction of the to voice and saw the four Denali members running towards is. My family and I stood up to greet them, whilst the wolves moved further away.

Tanya came first then followed by Kate, Carmen and Eleazar. They all made pleasantries with each other and I stood protectively behind Bella with my arms folded across her stomach.

"Edward! It is so good to see you again!" Kate said excitedly as she kissed my cheek, then shook Bella's hand. "And Bella! It is so wonderful to finally meet you!" Carmen and Eleazar greeted her the same way but Tanya determinedly ignored the both of us. The only mated couple in the Denali coven were the most civil to the wolves but Tanya and Kate practically ignored them.

"Guys!" Alice called over all the noise. Everyone turned to look at her. "It's time."


	26. Chapter 26 The Battle

"Guys!" Alice called over all the noise. Everyone turned to look at her. "It's time."

I froze like I was a human that had just jumped into ice. I turned my head slowly to face Alice, and I could feel Bella doing the same.

In silence, we all moved into the arrow formation that Jasper had instructed us to go into. Carlisle was at the front, flanked by Jasper and Emmett on the right, and Bella and myself on the left. The others formed behind us, the wolves at the very back. I could start to hear them now, the wild newborn thoughts that were still clouded with blood lust, though there were no humans around for miles, and I was sure that there was no scent. This just made me even happier that Bella wasn't the average newborn vampire.

_...Cullen's, have they seen us? Laurent told me about that physic…._

…_.attack to the left, get your arms around them, then we can hunt…._

The first voice that I heard was Victoria, and I heard a snarl come from my lips before I even realized what I was doing. Carlisle shot me a worried look over his shoulder.

"What is it son?"

"Victoria."

They emerged from the forest, not stopping to take in the size of their attackers, but simply going in for the kill. Typical newborns, only Victoria had the sense to stop. We charged into action, my family, friends and the wolves all charging towards them. I could see Alice attack another red haired girl, her eyes closed and her pixie face lifted up into a slight smile. Jasper was working on the teenage boy next to Alice. I launched at the first one that I could get my hands on, a male about the same build as me. I didn't bother to take in any other features of the newborn, they wouldn't be alive long enough for that to matter.

I grabbed his arm and tugged, but he swung round and clasped his arms round me. My instincts kicked in and I punched him in the face. He stumbled back from the blow, his head snapping towards the east. I pounced, knowing the newborn to the ground and biting his neck, quickly ripping his head off. The body went motionless and I threw the head away.

If I hadn't been so angry I would a have laughed a the fact that the head hit another one of the newborns, giving Tanya the advantage that she needed to behead the one that she was working on.

I looked around desperately searching for Bella.

But I couldn't find her, neither could I smell her.

I was scanning thoughts around me, positive that somebody must be thinking about her, and only just heard her just in time, but this wasn't the voice that I wanted.

I swung round to catch the female new born that was about to attack me. I grabbed her by the neck and threw her to the ground. She tried to jump at me but I put my foot on her chest to hold her were she was. This one was unusually strong for a newborn, but didn't have anywhere enough fighting skills to be one of the older ones. I started to feel sorry for her she didn't know what she was getting into, but I swiftly leaned down and ripped her head off before she got away. I threw this head to.

I continued on the search for Bella, looking desperately until I saw a flash of black streak past me. Sam was chasing another new born, but then a flash of chocolate brown jumped over top f him, twisting her body expertly to dodge the giant tail and landing on her feet. Another two newborns ran up to her and snarled at her. My protective instincts kicked in and I snarled loudly at them before charging, at the same time that Bella did. We slammed into them, taking one each. The one that I was on top of kicked me of but Bella's one rolled over on top of her, pinning her to the ground. I ran over and grabbed the thing by the shoulders, throwing him away. The other one slammed into me, grabbing me by the throat and as I went to grab his head, Bella jumped onto his back and ripped it off.

The body buckled, falling forwards onto me, the arms falling off as Bella dropped the head to the ground.

"Edward." She breathed, kissing me chastely before we both turned, back to back, to watch out for each other. All of the other newborns were engaged with at least one member from our group, we were winning. But then there was Victoria. She was standing on the edge of the field with anger and shock in those blood red eyes. She made me sick.

Bella turned around to see what had gotten my attention and immediately saw the monster. We looked at each other before nodding and taking off, hand in hand, towards her. Victoria's eyes snapped towards us and her violent eyes widened, before she spun on her heel and run off the way that she had come. Victoria had the head start, but we were faster.

Bella let g of my hand and I ran even faster before I got close enough, then I jumped and tackled Victoria, the both of us landing heavily, sending dirt flying up into the air. I turned her over and grabbed her legs, as Bella grabbed her shoulders. She couldn't move.

"Let go of me! I will win!" Victoria shrieked.

"Idiot woman." Bella laughed. "We have you trapped, and your newborns are all gone. We will win Victoria." She ripped one of Victoria's arms of and snarled. "That was for threatening my human family." She ripped of the other arm and Victoria's screams were echoing through the forest. "That's for threatening my mate." She looked up at me and nodded, allowing me to finish the job.

"This is for hurting my family." I ripped off her leg. "And for Bella." I took of the other one. Bella ripped off her head and we were done. She looked up at me from the mangled pieces and broke down, starting to shake with tearless sobs. I let go of Victoria and wrapped my arms round Bella.

"Shh love, shh, it's alright." I kissed her hair and told her that I loved her until she calmed.

"Everything's going to be alright." And I prayed to God that It would be.


	27. Chapter 27 The Result

Bella had been upset about killing anybody, no matter how much they deserved it, so I was not surprised by her reaction. I held her gently in my arms until she calmed, and I could hear the others calling for us to come back.

We made our way towards the family. The sky with thick with the purple smoke and the smell was hanging in the air. I stopped breathing, like I noticed that some of the others were too. I did a quick inventory, seeing that only two of our members were harmed. Emmett was licking at his arm, trying to speed up the healing process. Rosalie had a frown on her face and was stroking his hair with one hand, the other arm rapped round his giant figure. She was sitting on the ground behind him with her legs wrapped round his waist. Esme was rubbing at a shot on her arm; she had no doubt been bitter. A concerned looking Carlisle was hovering over her, trying to make sure that she was alright and checking everywhere else that he could. I could hear his mental worries for her.

Jasper and Alice were both fine, embracing each other in the middle of the field. The wolves were already gone, and the Denali's were about to leave. I went over to thank them, and to say goodbye, they promised to come back to the wedding.

That topic, those simply words, had a grin on my face again. The threat was over now and we could start to plan. Bella had said that she wanted the wedding to be as soon as possible and now there was nothing to hold us back.

I turned to her and could see that she was just as excited about this as I was.

My heart soared at the thought.

She would finally be mine in everyway.

Bella, Jasper, Alice and I all went back to the house, the rest of the family going for a quick hunt so that the injured members could regain their strength. I nodded to my bother and sister before taking Bella upstairs. I needed her.

I closed the door to our room to see her already sitting on the bed with her legs crossed. I walked over to her slowly before laying next to her, then she laid next to me, resting her head on my chest.

"I love you." She said quietly.

"I love you too." We were quiet then, and I didn't know how long for, but I eventually broke the silence.

"We can get married now."

I felt her smile against my chest. "Yes, we can."

"So when do you want to?"

"As soon as possible."

I lifted my wrist and looked at the watch there. "The court house will be open in an hour."

"Alright than!" Her head popped up from my chest. I looked at her, shocked.

"I was just joking."

"I wasn't!"

I was still just looking at her blankly.

"Well come on! Why not! We're free now! There is nothing to worry about anymore! What's stopping us?"

She was right.

"Why don't we just wait a few days. We'll find a house, wait till things calm a bit then we can go get married." I reasoned. It wasn't that I didn't want to be married to her, it's just that I this felt too rushed. She looked at me, understanding what I was trying to say to her.

"Alright then."

She kissed me.

"And this way," Alice barged through the door. "We can get a dress!" She started to bounce on her toes.

"Yes Alice, we can get a dress." Bella rolled her eyes. I grinned and Alice squealed. She was about to come over to hug us, but then Jasper voice called to her and she stopped stock stil, before waving then sprinting from the room.

"I don't want to hear what they are about to do." I groaned.

"Well, maybe I could distract you." She whispered, as she kissed my neck. Again. And again. And then I couldn't stop her even if I tried to.

A/N. So, the next chapter is the last one for a second chance. Sorry for getting kind of slack towards the end, but I just lost the….passion….for this story. Hope that you like it, Sarah.


	28. Chapter 28 The Wedding

It was beautiful, the whole day and the whole situation was absolutely beautiful. For the first time in my memory I was completely happy. I had absolutely nothing to worry about. No crazed vampire stalkers, no loneliness, no thirst, just joy.

The house was organized and our stuff was there and I was more than ready for my decade of Bella.

It was ten am on a quiet Sunday. The sun was lightly floating through the clouds and into the glorious room through the windows, as if God was smiling upon us. Our skin was sparkling slightly, but not enough that a human would question us. It was like a fairytale with the birds chirping lightly outside and the sounds of the beach faintly reaching my sensitive ears. My family was sitting in the front few pews of the Church, all but Bella, Alice, Jasper and Carlisle. The Denali's were there two though, as well as Kate's new mate. To discover that she had finally found somebody to love had brought me joy, she could finally go through what I went through, she didn't have to be alone anymore either. Garrett was a good guy, and was converting o the animal diet. His eyes were almost gold now.

If you had told me a year ago that I would be here, about to officially make my mate mine for the rest of Eternity then I more than likely would have laughed in your face, or punched you depending on my mood.

Don't get me wrong, the thought of marrying Bella had always been at the back of my mind but was not really anything that I had let myself seriously consider. If you had of told me this time last year that Bella was like me, then I would have tackled you. If you had of told me this time last year that I was the one that had changed Bella you would be missing an arm.

But that's were my life was at right now.

I was standing next to the Priest in the Catholic Church with my family grinning up at me, Esme practically sobbing and the ceremony hadn't even started yet, spying on Jasper trying to get a look at Bella.

The Priest was thinking about how happy I looked, and I had to agree, I don't think that I had ever been this happy.

The music started and my gold eyes snapped to the beginning of the isle. Alice and Jasper were walking towards me, Alice as the maid of honor and Jasper as my best man. I had not been able to decide between my brother so eventually I just got Jasper and Emmett to play scissors paper rock and the winner got to be my best man. In true fashion, they had played twenty eight times and then wrestled afterwards but Jasper still got the position, something that he had been gloating about for the past eight weeks. They each gave me a grin and took their places.

Then the music changed.

Again I looked to the start of the isle and then I saw her.

There were no words.

I needed better words.

Had I even not had enough words before?

She was a vision in her dress, her hair had been let loose but was still naturally wavy. Her make – up was minimal and her dress, that dress, it had a distinct Edwardian style but she pulled it off spectacularly. I knew that she had done this partially for me. On the plus side it matched her ring perfectly.

Her and Carlisle were walking towards me and my breath started to get faster and faster and I wanted to run up and grab her and drag her to stand next to the Minister. But this was tradition, grabbing the bride was not. So I waited.

I was glad that we had chosen this melody, it suited her so well. Her lullaby replaced the traditional wedding march because it was more 'us'.

When she finally go to me and her hand was in mine I felt like a blind man that had regained his sight and an explosion of love and joy blasted through my entire body.

_I love you. _I said incase she was listing. She grinned and mouthed the words back, letting me know that she was in fact listening.

How I wished that I could hear her to.

The ceremony went so slow yet so quickly at the same time and before I knew what was going on we were saying our vows and slipping rings onto fingers and being told to say 'I Do' and then she was my wife and I was kissing her.

And then I realized that I was wrong before. This right now was the happiest that I had ever been. I hoped that the feeling never ended.

"Don't worry." Bella told me when I pulled away. "I will make sure that it stays this way besides, we have got time."

**And that, lovely readers, is the end of A Second Chance. I hope that she didn't disappoint :) Review what you think. Thankyou for everybody that has stuck with me through all of this, your comments made my days, and gave me the extra boost that I needed to keep writing.**

**xoSarah.**


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